TIONAL LIbkAkr Of E U I L 1 t NAIlOt^AL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
RETURN TO
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
BEFORE LAST DATE SHOWN
%1 1983
giDiaaw JO Afvagn ivnoiivn gNiDiaaw jo Asvaan ivnouvn
A BOOK
OK
i^iEDicAi. Discoursp:s
PART FIRST:
' . ATlWr OK 11 IK CAUSE, PREVENT-IGN, AND CUKE OK INFANTIU';
BOWEL COMPLAINTS, KROM lilKTH TO THE CLOSE OF THE
TEETHING PERTOD, OU I ILL AFTER THE KIKTH YEAR.
PART SECOND:
CONTAINING MISCKLLANEOUS INFORMATION CoNCKKNlN(; THE
I.IKE AND GROWTH OK HEINGS ; THE HEGIN N I NG OF WOMAN-
HOOD ; ALSO, IHE CAUSE, PREVENTION, ANO CURE OF
MANY OF THE MOST niSTRESSIN(; COMPLAINTS
/N TWO PARTS.
OF WOMEN, AN1> ''jV^j-J,'^ ,
i)K HOT II SKXES.
[/ nv
RKIiKCCA ( RUMl'LKR, M. 1).
BOSTON :
ASIIM.W, KKATING & CO., PKINTKRS.
I'.wirr 1 !•: Court, 603 Washinctox Si.
Copyright 1S83,
By Rebecca Crumpler, M.D.
DEDICATION.
MOTHERS, NURSES,
\ND ALL WHO ^L\V DKSIRE TO MITIGATE THIi AFKLICTION>
OK thk human race,
THIS BOOK
IS PKAVERFLLI.V OKELRED.
ws
CONTENTS.
In TRODUCTioN
I. How to Many 5
II. The Present Modes of Washing and Drt>sing the
New-born
III. Preparations for Confinement . . • . u
IV. The Better Mode of Washing the Xew-born . . U
V. Necessity of Agreeable and Soothing Surroundings 18
VI. Nursing from the Breast made easy ... 20
VII. The Uselessness of " Baby Medicines " during the
Month -5
VIII. Dropping of the Navel Cord 3-
IX. Artificial Nursing 3^
X. The Milk Fever . .... 40
XI. Precautions after th^ rr^lHy — Proper and Improper
Diet 45
XI 1. General Treatment of Infant- .... 52
XIII. Time for Weaning 57
XIV. Sects. I, 2, 3, 4. Cholera Infantum Ti-rsiis Star-
vation . . . . . . • .61
XV. The Causes and Prevention of Cholera Infantum . 76
XVI. Convenient Methods for Raising Infants without the
Breast So
XVII. Teething made easy, Sees, i, 2 . . . .90
XVIII. Complications of Teething with Disease> . . 98
XIX. General Remarfs 105
Part Second, Miscellaneous Information . .120
\
INTRODUCTION.
I NOW present to the public a few thoughts in
book form, trusting that they will be accepted on
their merits alone. The following pages contain a
few simple appeals to common sense, and are ad-
dressed to mothers, nurses, and women generally.
All honor is due to a far-seeing legislation which
has recognized the importance of fitting woman
for the great and natural office of nurse, or doc-
tress of medicine ; for by it facilities are offered
to each member of a community for the promotion
of Christian enlightenment. By frequent visits
through various parts of the United States, at all
seasons of the year, as well as by quite an exten-
sive opportunity while in the capacity of family
nurse, and subsequent practitioner, I have become
quite familiar with those ailments and diseases
which afflict many infants from birth to the close
of the teething period, or till after the fifth year of
their age.
It may be well to state here that, having been
reared by a kind aunt in Pennsylvania, whose use-
fulness with the sick was continually sought, I
2
INTRODUCTION.
early conceived a liking for, and sought every op-
portunity to be in a position to relieve the suffer-
ings of others. Later in life I devoted my time,
when best I could, to nursing as a business, serv-
ing under different doctors for a period of eight
years (from '52 to '60); most of the time at my
adopted home in Charlestown, Middlesex County,
Massachusetts. From these doctors I received let-
ters commending me to the faculty of the New
England Female Medical College, v.rhence, four
years afterward, I received the degree of Doctress
of Medicine. I then practised in Boston, but de-
siring a larger scope for general information, I
travelled toward the British Dominion. On my
return, after the close of the Confederate War, my
mind centred upon Richmond, the capital city of
Virginia, as the proper field for real missionary
work, and one that would present ample opportuni-
ties to become acquainted with the diseases of
women and children.
During my stay there nearly every hour was
improved in that sphere of labor. The last quar-
ter of the year 1866, I was enabled, through the
agency of the Bureau under Gen. Brown, to have
access each day to a very large number of the in-
digent, and others of different classes, in a popula-
tion of over 30,000 colored. At the close of my
services in that city I returned to my former home,
Boston, where I entered into the work with re-
INTRODUCTION.
3
newed vigor, practising outside, and receiving
children in the house for treatment; regardless,
in a measure, of remuneration. Although not
now in a locality where my constant attendance is
required, I do not fail to notice the various pub-
lished records of the condition of the health of
Boston and vicinity.
That woman should study the mechanism of the
human structure to better enable her to protect
life, before assuming the office of nurse, few will
agree. But that good service has been performed
by those who were entirely ignorant of it, every
one must admit. In my own experience, there
was much that to me was obscure, yet, strange to
say, I never met with an accident, A kind Father
directed every thought in behalf of the helpless.
. I believe matrimony to be a divine institution ;
and that the results arising from a union of the
sexes should be considered an important study for
each party concerned. If we as intelligent beings
sit still in this matter of physical security, prema-
ture decay must take the place of perfection.
Since I have, with no small degree of diffidence,
consented to submit my long-kept journal to the
public in the form of a book, I desire to present
the different subjects by the use of as few techni-
cal terms as possible; and to make my statements
brief, simple, and comprehensive. Indeed I desire
that my book shall be as a primary reader in the
4
INTRODUCTION.
hands of every woman ; and yet none the less
suited to any who may be conversant with all
branches of medical science. If women are per-
mitted to read and reflect for themselves, it is
hardly possible that they will say it is uninterest-
ing to them, or that it should only be read by men.
In dealing with subjects that bring to mind
thousands of premature mortalities, as, for instance,
those from cholera infantum or pneumonia, I deem
it expedient to speak only of what I know and to
which I can testify. I have endeavored to give
some domestic or ready palliative reliefs for the
several cases described ; thereby hoping to avoid
the possibility of a remedy's being applied without
an acquaintance with the character and phases of
the complaint for which it is intended. There is
no doubt that thousands of little ones annually die
at our very doors, from diseases which could have
been prevented, or cut short by timely aid. Peo-
ple do not wish to feel that death ensues through
neglect on their part ; indeed they speak of con-
sumption, cholera infantum, and diphtheria, etc.,
as if sent by God to destroy our infants.
They seem to forget that there is a cajise for
every ailment, and that it may be in their power to
remove it. My chief desire in presenting this
book is to impress upon somebody's mind the
possibilities of prevention.
M EDicAL Discourses.
CHAPTER I.
HOW TO MARRY.
At what age should a girl marry ? is a question
frequently asked by young girls of some confiding
friend, and almost as frequently unsatisfactorily
answered. Suppose the question be amended
thus : — At what age and Jiow should young girls
marry } The answer to the last clause I would
say, taking all things into consideration, with the
consent of parents or guardians, it is best for a
young woman to accept a suitor who is respectable,
vigorous, industrious, and but a few years her
senior, if not of an equal age. One who gives
evidence, previous to wedlock, of being both capa-
ble and willing to take the entire responsibility of
a wife upon himself. No objections, of course, to
a union with wealth, all other things being equal.
No sickly, sensitive young girl need expect to have
it all sunshine, even with an industrious, well-
meaning man for a husband, rich or poor. The
age of a young woman should be about 19 or 20.
It should be remembered that the union of persons
6
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
of premature growth, that is before the body is
well developed on either side, favors weakly chil-
dren. And the same is true of the union of
persons far advanced in years. Weakly mixtures
also produce delicate children. A union of
persons whose parents are of unmixed blood, and
whose statures are nearly in proportion, usually
turns out well. A man's age should be between
22 and 25 when taking the responsibility of a
family upon him. I will add just here that the
way to be happy after marriage is to continue in
the careful routine of the courting days, till it be-
comes a well understood thing between the two.
After marriage, if medical aid is required by the
wife, let it be sought in a direction that there will
never be cause to regret. Some women are over
anxious for a family, and by their nervous whims
make themselves and those around them unhappy.
But it is to be deplored that there is a much larger
class of young women whose minds are dark on
the subject of preservation of health, and who soon
forget, if they ever thought of the liabilities of a
married life. On taking cold or feeling languid or
nauseated a physician must at once be sent for.
It should be borne in mind that many women be-
gin to show signs of pregnancy by cold, severe
pain in the head, back, stomach, or various parts
of the body.
Numbers begin and continue for months with
WASHING AND DRESSING THE NEW-BORN. /
severe cramp colic, and if remedies of a powerful
nature are applied, the mischief may be alarming.
Many of the teas, sweats, baths, and potions that
are effective in relieving a cold will be wholly in-
effective when pregnancy is certain. Therefore
repeated trials but disturbs the nervous system of
the mother, through which all things are trans-
mitted to the living germ. In all cases of suppres-
sion of the monthly flow after marriage, a careful
physician should be at once consulted, if there is
any reason to doubt that it is caused by pregnancy.
Suffice it to say that too frequent physicking and
over-indulgence in intoxicating liquors and tobacco,
will cause sickly diminutive offspring, to say noth-
ing of" premature births.
CHAPTER 11.
THE PRESENT MODES OF WASHING AND DRESSING
THE NEW-BORN".
Usually, as soon as the birth of a child is an-
nounced, a basin or tub of hot water is ordered.
The washing begins with a "wee bit of rag" and
a great cake of perfumed soap purchased long, long
before, for the occasion. Then follows wiping with
a great linen towel, during which time the creature
gets well aired, being indirectly exhibited to as
8
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
many as have courage to look on and admire "the
cunning little thing."
"The water must be hot, to get off the grease,"
said an old nurse. Aye, but with ignorant help
would it be surprising if a little of the skin came
off first.? In more favored circles a nice bath tub
is prepared, the water of an equal temperature with
the room. Some fine soap is put in to make a
suds, which is applied after the surface of the body
is oiled. Some cold water adherents persist in
using ice-cold water upon a new-born babe, depend-
ing on "rubbing it to get up a circulation." I once
knew a divine (divines have rules sometimes)
whose customs led him to have his only child
washed in this way, and believing in the adage
of "ti e hair of the dog curing the bite," he con-
tinued to doctor it himself for eighteen months,
from its birth to its death, with cold water. The
babe received a severe cold, stopping up its nos-
trils and air tubes, and rendering its little life
wholly miserable. To the cause of all this suffer-
ing they gave the technical name, Catarrh.
The methods of washing infants just described
are more common even in this enlightened age of
humanity than is generally known. The excuse
for cold baths may exist in the mode of life of the
erratic tribes, or among uncivilized nations whose
minds are dark upon the construction and office
of a nervous system. The several sad results that
WASHING AND DRESSING THE NEW-BORN,
9
I myself have witnessed at times, and places, that
it was not deemed my business to speak, have led
me to adopt what seemed a more humane course.
With the use of cold water some judgment is re-
quired, as many infants, when born, are weak, and
ready to yield up life upon the application of the
slightest sedative. The skin being so largely sup-
plied with nerves which transmit all sensations to
the internal organs, as telegraph wires do the elec-
tric current. Thus cold water may send a chill to
some vital part, the result of which no effort in the
power of man can counteract. It is next to im-
possible to keep a babe as warm as it should be
going through with the customary routine. In-
deed it is not at all uncommon for a babe to be
laid beside its mother (if not alone in a crib) lips
purple and cold as a lump of clay. I once looked
upon a babe who from this cause had for three
days resisted all attempts to get it warm. Thus,
I fear, many come and go. Does any desire to
preserve the vitality of a new being ? Then it will
not sufBce to be too self-assured or too oriental to
seek to improve in the matter.
I deeply regret to have to state that I have
heard many apparently intelligent persons ex-
press opposition to the continuation of the human
species. But let me ask. What devastating visita-
tions may we not expect if we seek to diminish
God's images by any selfish or misguided motives
10
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
THE USE OF SOAP.
There are many kinds of soap in use for the
purpose of washing clothes, cleansing paint, etc.
Then there are not a few advertised as superior
for washing the skin. But the fact that water into
which soap is rubbed turns white, or becomes
sudsy, is sufficient evidence that it contains an
alkali, or something having the nature of potash.
To use it on the tender skin of infants is but to
experiment for the benefit of the dealer, at the ex-
pense of the babe. Again, soap is irritating to the
more tender surfaces, as the lips and eyelids. If
the suds is sucked by the child while the sponge is
passed over the face, severe purging may occur.
Then if soap gets in the eyes, it is liable to cause
sore or inflamed eyes, perhaps for life. I truly be-
lieve that more children are afflicted with sore
eyes, ears, noses, and heads, whose friends took the
precaution to have them washed with "pure baby
soap," than could be counted in a hundred years.
The germs of bronchitis, which means cold settled
in the air-tubes leading to the lungs, — pneumonia,
which means lung fever, indigestion, each or all,
can be inducted into the system in the first wash-
ing. The male physician, unlike the woman phys-
ician, does not always remain long enough to see
this important duty properly performed. This
may be owing to the fact that, among the poorer
PREPARATIONS FOR CONFINEMENT.
II
classes, two or three women are present who are
expected to be experts in baby-washing. But, as
a fact, many old women sit around on such occa-
sions who have almost as little knowledge what
and how to do, as the babe whose expected advent
has called them together. Therefore we cannot
too strongly protest against the practice of many
physicians, — that of leaving a woman in the hands
of an inexperienced person as soon as the navel
cord is severed. For it is not at all reasonable to
conclude, that because a woman is the mother of
many children, she is an expert in the matter of
washing and dressing the new-born, or of relieving
the various ailments incident upon child-bearing.
CHAPTER III.
PREPARATIONS FOR CONFINEMENT.
When a woman is expected to be sick, if a
physician has not been engaged as one should
have been, no time should be lost in seeking
quietly to notify one. It is just as important that
a doctor should be in attendance before the birth
of a poor woman's child as that he should be pres-
ent before the birth of the child of wealth. And
it should be considered inhuman in any physician
12
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
to purposely absent him or herself until after the
birth of the child. With a little benevolence and
perseverance, the most humble in life can be pro-
vided with bedstead and bedding, upon which
should be fixed securely pads of cotton batting, or
woollen cloths. Also there should be provided
clean apparel for a change of under-garments,
should such change be needful. The chemise and
gown should be well taken up so as to be kept
dry; as wet or soiled bedding or apparel in time
of labor is a frequent cause of severe chills. For
the same reason, should instruments or vessels be
warmed before inserting, in the case of instrumental
labors. The surroutiding atmosphere should be
comfortable, never too warm or too cold. When
there is no physician present, and a child is so
fortunate as to "born itself," surely some one can
be found to assist it to survive the task. After
cautiously looking under cover to see that the in-
fant's face is clear from contact of any parts or
particles, patience will aid in determining how
best to complete a well-begun job.
BORN WITH A CAUL.
It is no uncommon thing, in hasty labor, for the
bag of water to break and remain close around the
face and neck of the child. This is done by the
quick, rolling motion in coming into the world.
The force of the descent breaks the thin skin or
PREPARATIONS FOR CONFINEMENT.
13
bag, and the same force packs the face into it ; so
that it remains over the face, partly around the
neck, and sometimes over the head as well Were
it not removed, the child must suffocate. This
circumstance at a birth has given rise to the say-
ings, "Born with a caul," "Born with a veil," etc.
The proper way to remove this bag or membrane
is, from over the head down, as lifting it may pull
open the eyes ; thereby bringing the eyeball in
contact with the fluid or the chalk-like substance,
thus laying the foundation for sore eyes. After
twenty minutes or more, beating having ceased in
the cord, — which may be known by pressing
closely between the fingers that part nearest the
belly of the child, — it should be tied by means of
a flat knot, with lamp wicking, or many strands of
white spool cotton, about a finger's length from the
belly. In case of twins, there should be a second
tie the same length from the first, and the cord
cut between the two ties. There have been times
when women depended largely upon each other,
in their helpless hours of confinement ; it may be
so again, but with a far greater chance of success-
ful results.
14
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
CHAPTER IV.
THE BETTER MODE OF WASHING THE NEW-BORN.
Washing is the name given to the old method.
Cleansing is the proper one for the new.
How to proceed : A soft, white, all wool blanket,
about two yards square, should be always in readi-
ness when a birth is expected. Not necessarily
new, but pure, never having been used about fever
patients, or about the dead. A metallic slop-pail
with cover, that all secundine particles may be put
out of sight; the same serving as a vessel for the
woman to sit over. As soon as the babe is freed
from the mother, it should be wrapped in the
blanket and laid aside in a comfortable place.
After the mother's safety is assured of, prepare
thus to clean and dress the babe : Secure a com-
fortable position, with plenty of light and ventila-
tion, as far from the confinement bed as possible.
Have a stand or covered chair, upon which to
place the half of a small teacupful of fresh hog's
lard or sweet oil. If in a cold room, warm the
grease by setting the cup in hot water for a few
minutes. Have a piece of soft, all-wool flannel,
about the size of your pocket-handkerchief, another
piece half as large, and two pieces of soft linen or
BETTER MODE OF WASHING THE NEW-BORN. 1 5
cotton about as large as your hand. A piece of
lamp wicking or several strands of white spool cot-
ton, to be used in re-tying, in case of bleeding from
the cut end of the cord. The infant may then be
brought forth, held on the lap, or laid on two
chairs. As many babes have open eyes as soon
born, it is best to dip a small piece of the soft linen
or cotton in the grease, and wipe the inner edges
of the lids first of all, as the drying on of the
chalky substance or other matter with which the
child's face may have had contact, while coming
into the world, may, as I have before said, be the
first cause of sore or inflamed eyes. Then proceed
with the small piece of flannel, well saturated with
oil, to clean the face, ears, nose, — avoiding the
eyes, — neck, chest, under the arms and between
the fingers. Wipe dry with the clean, large piece
of flannel. Those parts can then be covered with
a part of the blanket, and the lower extremities
cleaned with care. Should there be dried Wood
from the cut end of the cord, moisten with warm
water, and wipe it off. Then proceed to clean and
examine well all the private parts. When done,
cut a hole in the piece of cotton, linen or batting,
as it may suit, about the size of your hand, through
which slip the cord, fold it closely, but flat and
smooth, and lay it over to the left side of the belly,
that it may not intercept the circulation of the
liver, which is situated on the right side. Then
i6
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
secure it with an ali-vvool flannel band. The band
should be made so as to include a shirt with long
sleeves. It should extend from over the teats
down below the hips. There never would be
swelHng of the breasts of infants if the bands
were purposely made wide. The natural oflice of
the mama in girl-children, has been destroyed by
repeated pressing of the teats with the mistaken
purpose of "getting out the milk." Narrow bands
are worthless. If they shrink they should be
pieced out or replaced with new. The band se-
curely placed, — a flannel roller, plain slip and
napkin, is all that is required for the first dress-
ing. It often happens that, after "washing" and
dressing by present methods, blood oozes from the
cut end of the cord. Seldom docs this happen by
the new method, — I should say, my method.
Sometimes the fault is in the manner of tying, or
from imperfection of the cord itself. In any case
the gord should be re-tied, or the bleeding other-
wise stopped, and the infant kept warm till medical
aid can be summoned. To return to first dress-
ing: After the wraps have been drawn up over the
feet, the head should be thoroughly greased and
cleaned, taking care not to press the bones in the
least. Pressure upon the head at birth may be
the means of stupidity, or even idiocy, during life.
The baby's mouth should then be swabbed out
with a clean, wet cloth, and the little one laid
BETTKR MODE OF WASHING THE NEW-BORN. IJ
down in quiet. Babies usually sleep during the
procedure, as does the mother, she waking only to
find her babe by her side, "all warm, sweet and
clean," and " mamma didn't even hear it cry once."
One trial of this method is convincing of its ben-
efits. If soap is used with grease, it acts the same
as suds into which new cotton cloth is put. No
good laundress will meet with such an accident, if
possible to avoid it. And surely no careful nurse
will allow her little charge to suffer by having to
stop and change the water. Moreover, in the ab-
sence of soap, there is no liability to chapped skin,
glandular sores, sore eyes, ears, and crusty scalp.
Especially should the scalp be well cleaned, and
kept so; as it not only adds to the tidy appearance
of the child, but favors an even, healthy growth of
the hair bulbs. The foundation for a love of clean-
liness can best be laid in infancy. There are
many adults who desire good hair, yet do not or
will not know that combing the hair daily, and
keeping the scalp clean and cool, promotes a
healthy growth of the hair.
MKDICAL DISCOUKSKS.
CHAPTER V.
NECESSITY OF AGREEABLE AND SOOTHING SUR-
ROUNDINGS.
No Bay Rum, perfume, puff powders or other
unnatural substances should be tolerated about
young infants, But after the patients have been
made comfortable, all soiled clothing or slops
should be quietly removed. All loud talking or
laughing should be strictly prohibited. To insure
this, no sly jokes should be indulged in by any
one present; for by so doing convulsions of an
alarming nature may be brought on. Judging
from the actions of some women, when around a
confinement bed, it is not at all unlikely that
many cases of internal convulsions, both of mother
and child, are the results of inward or suppressed
laughter soon after delivery, and before the womb
has had time to get in place, or when the babe is
nursing.
Infants should be accustomed to a change of
apparel as soon as possible. It is an error to sup-
pose that a child should be kept hot, and tucked
down in soiled wrappings till after the navel drops
off. Af-ter twenty-four hours it can be wiped with
clean warm water, close around the navel. The
napkins, too, should be changed and washed out
AGREEABLE AND SOOTHING SURROL NDINGS. I9
just as often as soiled. Also there should be
clean day wraps and night slips in constant readi-
ness during the child's helpless period. Heavy or
wadded coverlets should be discarded, even in the
coldest weather, for the reason that they are
heavier than woollen, retain the moisture from
breaths, are not so easily washed as woollen blan-
kets, nor are they so warm. The science of our
nature teaches us that woollen is the best covering
during the hours of sleep. For instance, the pores
of our skin permit the escape of all gases not nec-
essary for the renewal of the tissues of the body ;
in like manner woollen goods permit the odors to
escape from our bodies.
The face of an infant should never be covered
when asleep, especially when in the bed with
adults ; it induces lung difficulties. The blood
must pass through the heart and lungs, uninter-
rupted, day and night, in order to supply all parts
of the body. The hours for sleep are intended for
the repair of worn material, while at the same time
the useless matter is passing off in breath or pers-
piration. I believe that all infants should be sup-
plied with a light covering for the head day and
night, until the hair grows out. The old style lace
cap, for instance, deserves a conspicuous place
among the relics of health preservers. Later on,
the hair becomes the only proper covering for the
head day or night. By all means, a child should
20
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
be closely watched, and its wraps changed and
adapted to atmospherical changes. If infants are
too tightly wrapped, or are allowed to get too hot,
they generally make it known by writhing or
whining in their sleep.
By using oil in the first cleaning the tempera-
ture of the child's body is not much changed. I
do not propose to describe any of the abnormal
liabilities of the cord circulation, that might re-
quire the use of hot or cold water, in order to save
life. As medical advice should be sought in all
doubtful or unnatural cases, the unnatural can
only be known by close attention to the appear-
ance of the natural.
CHAPTER VI.
NURSING FROM THE BREAST MADE EASY.
After the lapse of two or three hours, the
mother is likely to feel concerned for her child ;
but, should both incline to be quiet, neither should
be awakened for the purpose of nursing. Too
early an attempt to put the child to the breast is
frequently the cause of much unnecessary pain to
the mother. Before a child is put to the breast,
all soiled linen must be removed from the mother,
the face, neck, breasts, hands, and under the arms
NURSING FROM THE BREAST MADE EASY. 21
well wiped with a cloth wrung out of warm water,
then covered with a clean flannel chemise open at
the nipple. Bay Rum may be added to the water if
required. The private parts should be well wiped
under cover, greased with lard, and covered with
a large, warm napkin, after which a wide bandage
should be buttoned on. The babe will not suffer
by waiting. The greater number of women afford
milk enough in a few hours to supply the needs of
their young. The exceptions being either from
some malformation or a watery condition of the
blood. When the milk pores are free, the child
can obtain enough to satisfy it in a short time.
If, on the contrary, the glands are hard or unbro-
ken, as they most always are in case of a first
child, it becomes the indispensable duty of the
nurse to soften the glands, and start the milk run-
ning; as it is impossible for the babe to do it by a
few draws with its tongue. The glands may be
softened by the following means : Besmear the
hands with warm goose or olive oil, and anoint
the breasts slowly and evenly from under the arms
down to the nipple, until the glands soften and the
milk begins to flow; after which nipple cups should
be kept on in the intervals of nursing. Chapped
or bleeding nipples may be cured by frequent
sponging off with warm salt water. If through
neglect an abscess gets ahead, it should be en-
couraged to suppurate in one spot, by the applica-
22
MEDICAI. DISCOURSES.
tion of warm poultices of flaxseed meal, salt, hops,
or honey and flour, and when ripe opened with
the lancet; the babe continuing to suck through
the artificial teat.
Those manufactured by Robert R. Kent are in-
valuable.
If, after the milk has appeared, the glands
harden and the milk veins become knotty and
painful, I also make use of the following means
to relieve quickly : Steep half an ounce of Indian
Posy, or Life Everlasting herb, in a pint of water.
Oil the hands, and bathe in the same way I have
described, with the decoction as hot as can be
borne, the patient being in an easy, half sit-
ting posture. In the intervals of rest, she should
drink a teacupful quite hot, with or without sugar.
When the the tumor is considerably advanced, the
process of breaking it up is often very painful, and
may even cause fainting ; but relief is sure if the
work is patiently performed and courageously en-
dured. The pain of that is light compared to the
torture, for weeks together, of abscesses. The
herb has no more specific action than that of
relaxing the system through the aid of the absorb-
ents or sweat glands. It relaxes the skin, and is
safe to drink as a diet to increase the flow of milk.
A child may be born perfectly healthy, yet even
for days be slow to take hold of the nipple ; whereas
many seize hold at once. The friends fret and de-
NL'RSlN'd FROM l llK HKKAST .MADK I:ASV. 23
clare the babe is starving, if it does not desire to
suck. If they could only read the meaning in those
little eyes as they open and shut, they would know
the secret — rest, simply rest, preparatory to the task.
Many young mothers have no prominence to the
nipple, so that neglect on the part of the nurse may
cause such to lose the benefits of suckling. A
friendly adult or child could soon draw out the nip-
ple by sucking so that the babe can get hold ; after
which the nipple cups should be kept in constant
use, till the babe is strong enough to keep the
glands soft, and the nipple pliable. Usually, at this
juncture, all sorts of teas are suggested : molasses
water, milk and sugar and water; and should the
child dare to cry, after the plentiful administration
of one or all these teas, up steps an experienced
old friend, or grandma, who declares that it must
have "catnip tea." So the world-renowned catnip
tea is authoritatively given, while are related the
many cases in which the drug was known to have
cured wind colic, and how it quiets and fattens gen-
erally. Only when the child belches, and refuses to
let any more go down its throat, does the pouring
in cease. And even this is sometimes taken as
an indication that the babe is full, and needs to be
trotted to make room for more. Some babes are
eager to suck at .birth, even seizing hold of the
sponge as it passes the mouth in washing the face.'
If babes are not fed just when they fret and whine,
24
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
some knowing ones say they "suck wind." Well,
is it not natural that they should suck wind, since
they are in the world If they are allowed to lie
quietly for a few hours, and are then given a few
drops of sweet cream or milk, without sugar, they
will give scarcely any trouble, and in due time
nature will furnish strength to obtain with ease
the amount of nourishment suitable to the delicate
organs of digestion. It frequently happens that a
babe has a rattling or wheezing noise in its throat,
or air tubes ; in such cases, a feather has usually
been recommended with which to tickle the back
part of the tongue. I always wet the feather, to
lay the down. The tickling excites a coughing or
gagging, which dislodges the phlegm, so that it can
be hooked out with the finger. There are reasons
for suspecting that many new-born infants have
strangled to death from this cause. I do not mean
to cast any reflections when I say that a physician
is not likely to be informed of the fact, until it is
too late to remove the difficulty. And as the
wheezing may assume the same sound as that of
catarrh, cold in the air-tubes, bronchitis or croup,
the real cause may be lost sight of. Promptness
is all that is required when any such trouble pre-
sents. The fumes of tobacco, whiskey, smoking
lamps or stoves, — also wetting the nipple with
spittle when eating snuff, each of these may not
only be disagreeable to a young infant, but may
USELESSNESS OF " BABY MEDICINES." 2$
sicken it and cause instant death. It is true, how-
ever, that many children have survived all of these
disadvantages, but who can tell how much has been
taken from their health, and length of days. In-
fants should be nursed frequently at first, to give
them a good start; they seldom suck more than
they need. But from the beginning they should
be fed, then laid down. As they grow older they
will nurse well, and expect to lie down afterwards.
Early and regular habits of nursing prevent the
liability to mammary abscesses, ovarian or uterine
tumors. Hence, suckling a child as soon as con-
venient after birth, not only serves to quicken the
vitality of the new being by cleansing the bowels
and supplying new blood, but it also serves to
clear out the system of the mother.
CHAPTER VII.
THE USELESSNESS OF "BABY MEDICINES" DURING
THE MONTH.
Probably the greatest amount of mischief aris-
ing from the administration of " baby teas," lies in
the fact that they are not given with the least cer-
tainty as to their effect upon the system of the
child, whether to nourish the blood or physic the
26
M E n I c A I . n I SCO u rses.
bowels. Let us take catnip: this' is anherb des-
cribed in some books as being a mild laxative,
good to work off cold on the chest and bowels of
infants; a sweat-promoter. About a dozen years
ago a neighbor of one of my patients, thinking it
for the best, gave catnip tea to her three-days'-old
son. I was hastily summoned, and on arriving in
the room where everything a few hours before was
so tranquil, I suspected that catnip tea had been
around. Of course no one would own up until,
after I had staid by the little victim fifteen hours
without sleep, finally succeeding in checking the
frequent green discharges and thus saving the
child's life, — shame, caused the disclosure of the
cause of the mischief. The tea had not been
given for food, as the mother had a full supply ;
but as the babe was moving about, it was thought
that a little catnip tea would make it sleep. A
lady told me with great dignity that her children
ate homoeopathic pills when they wished. " Why,"
said she, " my children fatten on them."
I saw that she did not know the secret of the
" fattening." Another said, " Why, my James eats
castor-oil on bread." Now we are aware that there
are very many articles used as food that can be
prepared and combined so as to act in place of
medicine in certain cases ; but as a general thing
medicine will not answer to nourish the body in
place of food. According to the mechanism of
USELESSNESS OF "bAHY MEDICINES." 2/
man, there are three stages in his life for which
due preparation is made, before he comes into ex-
istence, to wit : the breasts' milk for infancy, the
teeth, with which to eat solid food, and medicine,
to heal when sick. As to catnip producing sleep,
I cannot agree with old ladies in general ; but I
do know of a truth that if a child is dosed with it
in early infancy, the effect is to loosen the bowels ;
the fatigue from this over-distension of the stom-
ach causes sleep. Babes should move about if they
have life enough in them ; they should, by no
means, be stupefied. The first milk from the
breast is the only medicine needed ; when other
mixtures are poured into the child's stomach, as
teas sweetened with sugar, honey, molasses, either
of which is laxative, the danger is greatly aug-
mented, especially if given before the bowels have
moved at all. The custom of old-fashioned people,
as they style themselves, of giving new-born babes
castor-oil and molasses, or soot tea (for that irre-
pressible belly-ache), and urine and molasses, to
clean them out, is, though with reluctance, fast
dying out. It would be well to notice that chil-
dren who are dosed during infancy for every
supposed ill are seldom robust. They become
physically stunted, and their peevish habits exact
for them all sorts of over-indulgence. More food
for the blood, and less medicine, should be the
motto. Let us follow the tide of progression.
28
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
There are no uniform rules by which infants are
to have a discharge at birth, either from the
bowels or bladder. Therefore, no efforts to induce
such should be used until necessity demands it.
It is no uncommon thing for infants to pass large
quantities from the bowels, just as they are enter-
ing the world ; a circumstance not likely to be
noticed by those unaccustomed to all the incidents
of childbirth. It is always safe to await the action
of the first food, whether from the breast or arti-
ficial ; and if it be but a few drops well digested,
there need be no fear but that the napkins will be
soiled as fast as desired. If such result does not
follow, after waiting two or three days, a flannel
cloth folded, and wrung out of hot water, laid first
on your cheek, then on the child's belly, and that
covered with dry flannel, will, with perseverance,
bring about the desired result. Sometimes an
infant passes large quantities of the dark matter
immediately after the fatigue of washing and dress-
ing (old style) ; then it may pass no more for two
or three days, or until time has been given for
matter to accumulate. If the organs of the child
are ail right, all will be well. But should doubts
arise as to the best course to take, surely medical
advice only needs the seeking. It was formerly
the custom, and is now to a great extent with old
nurses, to give later in the month — certainly
before their month was up, as all teas and charms
USELESSNESS OF "BABY MEDICINES." 29
had to be given before they left — saffron tea. I
have seen them sit by a hot stove and feed infants
with saffron tea more patiently than they would
like it given to them. I once asked a high-priced
nurse why she gave saffron tea. I was kindly,
though decidedly, informed that it was to "push
the gums." I was none the wiser by asking.
I afterward learned from the child's older sister
that the doctor said the baby had the jaundice.
Weir it might have the jaundice, kept in a
room with a temperature of 80 degrees, with two
adult persons night and day, and fed on saffron
tea. Now the crocus, or saffron, sometimes
grown in our gardens, is described as possessing
sweating properties, being good to promote erup-
tions of the skin in fevers, and good in fits. Yet
thousands of infants, no doubt, have been forced to
swallow saffron tea, who have not given the slight-
est evidence of any unnatural complaint. No
paregoric, laudanum, or other preparations con-
taining opium, should ever be given to an infant
for the purpose of quieting or making it sleep.
Sleep-producers serve only to bind the bowels and
stupefy the senses. Carminatives — medicines
that expel wind — such as caraway, fennel,
anise, cardamon, mints and the like, should never
be given unless prescribed by those competent to
vouch for their effect.
It is becoming a widespread custom to send a
30
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
little girl or boy to a druggist's to purchase some
advertised baby medicine or food. The patent
cough syrups, or those kept on hand in shops, I
deem unsafe in the hands of the inexperi-
enced. Most, if not all of them, contain some sleep-
producing ingredient, whereby they may check a
cough by paralyzing, as it were, the little nerves of
sensation in the air tubes; thus giving opportunity
for the phlegm to collect in great quantities, with
no possible way of escape. Doubtless in this way
suffocation is frequently induced, in whooping-
cough, bronchitis, or croup.
Several years ago, in the city of Boston, a
mother returned from work, and found her baby,
which she had left alone, a corpse. Her explana-
tion, as it appeared in the daily papers, was to the
effect that she had given the child the rinsings of
the vial that contained laudanum, to keep it quiet.
People are getting much wiser nowadays ; lau-
danum and paregoric cannot be easily obtained
without a recipe. But they can yet buy and give
large doses of " Patent Soothing Syrups."
In all cases of difficult breathing or signs of
croup, with or without hot skin, a soft flannel cloth
should be wrung out of hot water, and laid over
the entire chest, close up under the chin and ears ;
and if the bowels are bound, it may extend to the
belly, the whole being covered with a dry, warm flan-
nel. By this means the force of a cold can be broken,
USELESSNESS OF " BABV MEDICINES." 3 1
the breathing relieved, and in a majority of cases
it is all that is required to be done. Even in
severe cases of lung fever, warm water applica-
tions are invaluable ; acting as an absorbent
through the medium of the pores of the skin. If
a paste of flax-seed meal is used, it should be ap-
plied in the same way. If the applications are to
be warm, they should be kept warm, and if they
are to be cold, should be kept cold, until relief is
obtained.
I ma}' have digressed somewhat, as pneumonia
seldom develops in the first month of infancy.
At all events, external applications are in place
till medical aid is secured. I do not wish to be un-
derstood as usurping the power of other physicians ;
each has his or her own method of procedure.
I merely wish to impress the domestic and com-
mon sense means, to be used in cases of emergency.
The old custom of giving infants " a little weak
toddy" to "bring up the wind and make them
sleep," should henceforth and forever be removed
from the midst of a more enlightened people. If
it is given weak the effect is to intoxicate at first,
and then produce sleep ; which may be followed
by a fearful attack of purging. If given strong, it
may induce constipation and dry colic, the very
thing it is intended to relieve. Such a course may
also have inculcated a desire for tippling in many
of our weak-minded youth. Castor-oil is a well-
32
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
known sickening purgative, and it does seem to be
a wonderful interposition of Providence alone, that
so many thousand infants have survived the com-
pulsory dosing with this drug. But a few years
ago a lady, aged about sixty-five, came to her end
from severe diarrhoea, brought on, as she testified,
by taking a "store-boitle of castor-oil at a dose."
Mothers and nurses should strive to become
familiar with all articles of diet; also with the
properties and medical uses of all drugs and miner-
als, and their action upon the animal economy.
CHAPTER VIII.
DROPPING OF THE NAVEL CORD.
It would more than pay me, if in this section I
could say aught that would effect the removal of
the anxiety generally shown concerning the heal-
ing of the navel.
There is a late custom recommended by some
physician, that of soaking of the lint, to apply
clean each day. This, in my judgment, is risking
too much, unless it be with the guidance of an ex-
perienced person. I deem it much safer to wipe
close around the wound daily ; then on the third
day slip a clean piece of soft cotton or linen be-
neath and around the soiled pad ; as about this
DROPPING OF THE NAVEL CORD.
33
time the cord, unless very thick, is dry and will
soon drop off, leaving the clean pad as a protect-
ing ring around the navel. The navel should then
be looked after each day until healed. But it is
an error to suppose that the navel should be
healed in any certain number of days. The usual
time is from five to seven days; but I have known
many to drop on the third day, and more to re-
main unhealed till after the twelfth or fourteenth
day. In the former case the cords were very
small ; in the latter they were very large and
strong.
Many years ago, I learned of an accident that
occurred to a midwife of much usefulness : Be-
cause the cord remained eight days, she cut what
she supposed was a piece of thread ; in conse-
quence of which the child bled to death. It would
be well to state here that keeping the babe too hot
retards the drying of the umbilical vessels. Ordi-
narily the healing of the navel is simple and
natural, and it should never be tampered with.
Should unnatural growths appear, any regular
physician can detect the cause, and direct the cure
at once. Far more accidents occur by the reluc-
tance of friends around to call medical aid in time,
than from the cause itself. Selfish prudence is
too often allowed to come between duty and hu-
man life.
If at any time a white fluid should be dis-
34
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
charged from the vagina, or private parts, of a
girl child, it should be washed away as often as
seen, and the parts washed out with a solution of
common salt I have seen mothers become great-
ly frightened at this common occurrence. Clean-
liness and perseverance will remove the trouble.
If families would make it a rule to have a ther-
mometer in the nursery or the sleeping-room, by
which to regulate the- temperature of the body,
many of these baby-ills would be banished from
our midst. The nervous system of babes deserves
a large share of our sympathy. But if one were to
judge from the treatment they sometimes undergo,
it might be inferred that, like dolls, infants have
no nerves or rights which men are bound to re-
spect. Children of the same family differ much.
One may be sprightly, making frequent music by
crying; the other may be comparatively docile.
And if a child is quiet and does not cry, or act
silly, it is called stupid, and everything is done to
arouse its ire.
Children cry for pastime; so they should. It
develops the lungs and relieves the air-tubes of
any collections of phlegm. Besides, it causes them
to be noticed by some one who might forget their
existence. There cannot be any comfort in being
rocked, tossed, shook and kissed, and that, too,
without any regard to the odor of the breath. It
is decidedly injurious to wake babes from a quiet
DROPPING OF THE NAVEL CORD.
35
sleep, or even to excite their attention while lying
quiet. Mothers should early learn to listen and
become familiar with the different tones produced
in the cries even of the same child. Listening
should be cultivated more; then the possibility of
making a crying baby more noisy, by shocking it
with additional noises, will need no more explana.
tion. " Oh," says one, " they get used to it and
look for it." True, — bred, born, aye and raised in
excitement ; never can hear or understand any-
thing but noise, noise, noise.
Currents of cold air from a window or door
should not be permitted to pass over the exposed
body of infants ; as, by so doing, the sudden
change may, like electricity, direct the irritation to
some vital organ. It is considered much safer,
when the weather permits, to put on suitable
wraps and take them in the open air. The most
trouble arises from keeping the infant too warm
from birth. Hot-house plants uarely endure the
changes of the open air, until it becomes equal to
what they have been used to.
36
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
CHAPTER IX.
ARTIFICIAL NURSING.
Should the mother afford no milk by reason of
malformation, or otherwise, the child should be
accustomed to the most healthful kind of food
from the first. Milk from one animal should be
sought. Animals that are fed on corn, hay and
fodder, make the best milk in winter; those fed on
clover and cured hay, the best in summer. The
milk of animals fed mostly on turnips, cabbages,
and potatoes, is more apt to disagree with the
stomach.
The goat furnishes an even diet for infants, but
its milk is not so easy to obtain in large cities.
Milk should be given to a child in its purity, not
deprived of the pream or watered. Watering is
equal to skimming, and vice versa. And when
the child has never known the taste of its mother's
milk, I can see no philosophy in directing the
milk to be watered and sweetened to make it taste
like breast-milk.
All attempts to increase the quantity of babes'
food by watering are indeed robbery, as relates to
the infants ; such weakening should only be prac-
tised for special reasons. But to insure success,
ARTIFICIAL NURSING.
37
pure milk, or cream with some water, should be
the rule, not the exception.
In a warm atmosphere the milk or cream should
be made scalding hot by setting it in a vessel of
boiling water, and stirring it the while. Boiling
deprives it of the cream and other nutritive proper-
ties. There should be no more warmed than is
to be used up. The warming should be by putting
the milk in the bottle, then placing the latter in
hot water a few minutes. In this way the quality
and temperature of the drink remains uniform.
The capacity of the bottle selected should be about
one ounce. The material of which the black
elastic nipple is composed, is not supposed to
injure the mouth. No sugar should be added.
Babes have been raised to a fine size on various
kinds of porridge ; and they can be supported by
putting a piece of clean linen into the shape of a
teat, fastening a soft string about it so that it may
be held by the nurse or any one, while food is
poured into it from a spoon. Man)? are the times
that I have fed them in that way. I never
thought of laying them down to feed themselves.
Milk may be used just as it comes from the
animal ; it is only in cases where it is kept on
hand for a day that it really need be scalded.
So much emphasis has been put upon the
necessity of water as a constituent of baby diet,
that it is almost venturing too far to remind any
38
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
of the fact that most milk dealers are careful that
this constituent shall be already supplied.
Formerly, dropsical, emaciated, half-starved,
fretful babes were very numerous ; but since, of
late, judicious legislation has been brought to bear
on the matter of adulterating milk, things have
changed.
Henceforth we may hope to hear that infantile
deaths from this probable cause decrease an-
nually.
With meagre feeding a " bouncing fat boy" will
soon present the appearance of a wrinkled old
man. And, too, the condition in which food is
presented to a child is equally as important as the
quality and quantity. It is impossible to rule the
stomach of another; a spunky child will resent
the attempt some way, and at some time, even
though it be after the injury is irreparable. A
uniformity in heatin-g the milk or food of any kind
is very important. Hot things should never enter
a babe's moutTi. If milk is in the least sour, it is
running a great risk to try to sweeten it by adding
soda, as some persons do, for covenience.
The coarse habit of "stuffing" babes, to avoid
frequent feeding of them, should vanish like dew
before the noonday sun; us it probably will, under
the management of educated mothers and nurses.
The old-fashioned way of compelling babes to
suck a "sugar teat" or a piece of fat meat rind
ARTIFICIAL NURSING.
39
for hours together to keep them quiet, is cheating,
to say the least. Our domestic fowls will eat
meal, grain and vegetables when they can get
them. And if all supply of food is cut off, they
may be seen to pick, pick, day after day ; this
they will do if the ground is frozen and bare.
But are they getting food ? Nay, they are only
tasting, smelling, and hunting for food.
Sucking a sugar teat or meat rind, like gum-
chewing, tends to undermine the natural vigor of
the mind, by a waste of the fluids that are in-
tended to prepare the food for making pure b'ood.
A child can just as kindly be fed, changed, and
laid quietly to rest ; it does not need patting or
rocking.
Baby-raising is made irksome by adults them-
selves. The feeding and putting to sleep should
be superintended by some competent person, as
by intrusting it to children, or even young girls,
the feeding may be imperfect. Many children
scream with fright at the noise created to get
them to sleep.
Canned or otherwise prepared baby -food is
quite uncertain, unless, in the case of canned
milk, particular pains is taken to have the water
hot, and the mass well dissolved ; a large part will
remain at the bottom of the vessel. Again, as
there is more than one brand of this article, it is
hard to find out which is the purest, as all are
40
MEDICAL DISCOURSES,
advertised to be the best. Of course the largest
firm will have the largest sales. Then the price is
not so convenient at all times, rather encouraging
the habit of rinsing the can ; while all infants'
food should be prepared fresh when wanted.
Some babes spit up their food from the first,
but there is nothing alarming about that. Should
what is spit up smell sour, and apj^ear indigested,
small doses of pulverized magnesia — say about as
much as will lay on a five-cent silver piece — will
correct it, while any known cause should be
removed at once. In case of purging in early in-
fancy, it is a mistake not to stop it as soon as pos-
sible. It is always safe, after removing the cause,
to quiet the motion of the bowels ; a thing which
can be done only by proper scientific means, that
no one should fail to secure.
CHAPTER X.
THE MILK FEVER.
Very many women ^have milk in the breasts be-
fore the birth of a child. Others do not have any
• for some days after conf nement, yet may appear
comfortable. It is no uncommon thing for them
to forget that they have another very important
task to perform, — that of preparing healthy meals
THE MILK FEVER.
41
for the offspring. If, at this time, company is
allowed, talking and laughing indulged in, the
symptoms of the coming milk may be greatly aug-
mented; so that what might have been a slight
chill, headaches or fever may become so severe as
to require prompt medical aid. Indeed diarrhoea,
convulsions, or even insanity may be brought on
through the means of any excitement whatever,
between the birth of the child and the establish-
ment of the milk.
Giving castor-oil or other nauseous drugs (as
has been, and to a great extent is now, the custom)
is quite risky, even when prescribed by a phys-
ician ; as many women are of such a costive habit,
that it requires a very large dose to move the
bowels. I repeat, it is risking too much, when
given in the ordinary ways, for both mother and
child. On the part of the mother, an overdose
may cause excessive purging and consequent
weakness. On the part of the child, should it be
nursing while the physicking is going on, the re-
sult may be griping and purging, ending its life in
a few hours. Every means should be resorted to to
move the bowels, where such relief is really need-
ful, before administering physic.
Many women have a large passage during the
delivery of the child ; and therefore need not be
disturbed about that matter for days, or even a
week, all other things being favorable. For it
42
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
should be borne in mind that the internal organs
are, in a measure, paralyzed by the interruptions
of nature during labor, and that time is needed to
rest the nerves and bring things in proper order.
Headache, so commonly complained of after de-
livery, is more from exhaustion of the nervous
system than from constipation. For this reason
should extreme quiet be observed for about nine
days. When physic must inevitably be given dur-
ing the coming of the milk, it is decidedly best to
keep the babe from the breast until it is all
through with.
But, as a general thing, other means will answer ;
such as wringing a cloth out of hot water and ap-
plying over the abdomen, or belly, rubbing down
and across the back and loins, giving large drinks
of hot water without sugar, keeping the body
warm and moist for a while, but never an injection
unless directed by a practitioner.
I would suggest that a few dollars paid to a
physician for a half-dozen extra visits during the
first weeks of confinement, might prevent months
and years of gloom in many families. Again,
there are many women that take suddenly ill
with vomiting and purging about the time for the
milk to appear. The violence with which this
trouble progresses, and the depressing conse-
quences by which it is characterized, have indeed
caused it to be termed "child-bed cholera"; and
THE MILK FEVER.
43
although it may arise from a previously disordered
liver or stomach, it seldom happens unless there
has been indulgence in suppressed laughing,
inhaling peculiar odors, over-eating or drinking.
Although the coming of the milk is most commonly
ushered in with some degree of chill or fever,
there are as many, no doubt, who experience no
change whatever, it being so slight. Hence it
probably would be best if the term "milk fever"
were never used until really apparent. If, after
lactation has become perfect, it should go and
come, means should be at once resorted to to
insure its continuance. Wine, ale or beer are not
advisable for this purpose. They may surely lead
to the habit of moderate intemperance, while their
benefits are only temporary. Pure blood is the
basis for pure milk, therefore nutritive articles of
diet are of more permanent use.
It is well to bear in mind that a scarcity of
milk during the month should never be taken as
an excuse for refusing to nurse the child ; for if it
can get but a spoonful a day, it greatly encourages
the chance for increasing it. The mother's milk
is the fountain of life to the babe, and. therefore
seldom dries up unless there be some unnatural
obstruction. It has been said by many close
observers, that when the milk goes away without
some perceptible cause, the child is not to live.
What will cause the milk to disappear in some
44
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
women, will not in others. Peculiar odors, or
pungent, volatile applications will completely and
forever drive the milk from the breasts of some
women ; and a cessation of the milk is frequently
a forerunner of consumption of the lungs or
tumors about the ovaries. If the nipples crack
and bleed, they should be anointed with goose
oil, occasionally cold cream, or wet with a solution
of sal ammonia, or^ vinegar and water. This done
in the intervals of the babe's sleep, care should be
taken to wipe the nipples before offering them
to it. When a mother gives up to the thought
that the suckling is the hardest part to bear,
and impatiently deprives her infant of the
breast, the pleasures of life must be to her of
small value. " Try, try again," is an adage worth
heeding.
Should there be humor in the blood, as there
ofttimes is, the nipples will not readily heal while
the child nurses; in which case it is advisable to
feed the child from a bottle and treat the mother.
After relief is obtained, the nursing can be re-
sumed. In ordinary cases a poultice made of
bruised burdock root and elm flour, together with
a tea made by steeping burdock root and drinking
a pint a day ; keeping the bowels regular, eating
rye and Indian bread, and taking about a half
teaspoonful of calcined magnesia dissolved in
water, once a day, will effect a cure. The poultice
PRECAUTIONS AFTER THE MONTH. 45
should be made soft and applied fresh twice a day
between two thin cloths.
A lady of wealth may get discouraged and give
her babe to the care of another, whose babe may
in consequence have to be put in some charity-
house or otherwise to board. Her babe may
thrive and live; while that of her wet-nurse may
soon pine away and die." No one can avoid dis-
tressing others unless he strives, to the best of
his ability, to bear his own burdens.
CHAPTER XI.
PRECAUTIONS AFTER THE MONTH. PROPER AND
IMPROPER DIET.
There are many families in moderate circum-
stances who, no doubt, feel unable to keep more
than one fire going during the cold season ; yet
nevertheless subject themselves* and children to
frequent and severe colds by the sudden change
from a hot room to a cold sleeping-apartment.
This might in a great measure be prevented by a
little extra care to secure tenements with sufficient
rooms on one floor.
An infant should never be allowed to take its
regular naps in a hot kitchen, aniid steam and
46
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
dust; or in an ironing - room, with all of its day-
clothes on, beside extra cover, and then be un-
dressed and put to bed in a room that no heat, not
even that of the sun, is allowed to enter. Piling
on heavy comforters renders the breathing heavy.
No baby's face should be covered while asleep.
It is wonderful to see how hard some of these
little victims struggle to breathe while they sleep,
if sleep it can be called. Some babes kick off the
cover, and after being very warm get very cold ;
to avoid which, soft flannel night-drawers, made
so as to include socks and all, should be used.
Comfortable sleeping apartments without fire
are healthy. The lungs of grown persons break
down from cause of too much pressure, much more
infants ; yet from all such exciting causes the air-
tubes may escape, and the liver, stomach or bowels
receive the whole mischief.
The sleep of children cannot be healthful if
their clothes remain pinned down beneath and
around them, and, it may be, tight leather shoes
on. Besides, it cultivates untidyness to oblige
them to submit to such management. On the
contrary, every effort, even at the sacrifice of per-
sonal pleasure, should be put forth to insure that
clean, sweet and undisturbed repose so much re-
quired, and without which few, if any, are perfectly
developed.
When it is remembered that from the air we in-
PRECAUTIONS AFTER THE MONTH.
47
hale come the principles of life, and how much it
is in our power to avoid the contact with injurious
particles or substances therein contained, many
disadvantages in the matter of rearing the babe will
disappear. The air they breathe should be as
much one way as possible; no sudden gusts of
wind should be forced upon them by hoisting a
window when they are over-warm.
Children, of any age, should not be permitted
to sleep in the open air, unless it might be for a
few minutes, and where the air is extremely bland;
which it seldom is, on our New England parks
and gardens. A gradual change in the matter of
bathing, dressing, feeding, and putting to sleep
should be the rule.
The mother may at any time during lactation
communicate cold to a child. My first experience
in this matter was about thirty-five years ago,
when assisting in the care of a child that was
nursing. The mother being very warm one
summer day, drank freely of ice cold water while
the babe of about six months was sucking. She
had not much more than time to set the glass
down when the babe was seized with rigid con-
vulsions, and dropped from the breast. The
mother became almost helpless with fright, and as
the next farm was some distance off, I had to use
my young brain. Therefore, I procured a tub
with some warm water and a little mustard ; it
48
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
may have been a "fearful lot," but the infant was
all right when I got through with it.
Over-work or great fatigue in any way should
be avoided by women that suckle their children.
If obliged to work and scrub, at home or else-
where, they should endeavor to keep a strict watch
over the condition of that life fountain, the breast-
milk. There is no known law preventing careful-
ness.
Again, it is a mistake to indulge in drinking
beers or other alcoholic slops to prevent the
child's nursing cold. Early subsistence from the
strength of whiskey, rum, beers and ales, like
tobacco, tends to stunt the intellect and dwarf the
stature of the youth of our land. It is much
better to eat warm soups, or such solid food as
will give permanent warmth to the blood, and
insure a clear character to the being. When it is
a babe's meal-time, it should be served with the
most exquisite care, as upon that depends its
proper growth and length of days. To prove this
a fact, take, for instance, an old woman or old man
upon whom adversity may have made some telling
marks in their younger days, and whose days
appear nearly at an end, and let such be well
cared for in a neat, quiet, comfortable home ; the
chances are they will live on in brightness of hope
for a number of years.
Contrary to the teachings of some so-called
PRECAUTIONS AFTER THE MONTH.
49
missionaries, I believe that neatness in arranging
food, dress, or whatever pertains to order and
pleasantness, is the most essential part of a
Christian duty. For surely if the body is cherished
as the image of our Maker, the soul-salvation is a
possibility.
I alluded in Chap. II. to putting the new-born in
a crib. Not that I oppose their lying alone — on
the contrary, I deem it highly conducive both to
health and good morals for every one, when at a
proper age, to sleep alone.
Now since we have noticed to some extent how
sudden emotions, as of grief, anger or fright may
shock the child at the breast through the agency
of those little organs called nerves, — we will pass
on to notice some of the causes of bowel com-
plaints arising from the nature of the food eaten
by the nurse. Probably there is no cause more
frequently productive of infantile bowel com-
plaints, both during and after the month, than that
of the too early indulgence in a mixed diet. It
may be well to enumerate some of the more
objectionable articles of diet from the first day of
confinement to the seventh or ninth month, or
time for weaning. Of the vegetables, — beans,
dry or green, cabbage, cooked or raw, beets,
turnips, cucumbers, green peas, dandelions, spin-
ach and Carolina potatoes. Pickles of all kinds.
All of the finny tribe ; oysters and lobsters being
50
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
the most dangerous. Of the meats, fresh pork
and veal. Of the desserts, egg custards, pastry,
cheese and preserved fruits. Of the fluids —
coffee — unless ordered for medicinal purposes —
raw milk, wines, ales or beers. As a matter of
convenience I will introduce what in reason should
constitute the proper diet for the same period of
time ; the modes of preparation being left to those
acting as nurses. A large number of women
detest gruel, or " baby-food," as they term it.
In this, many, no doubt, are excusable, owing to
the condition in which it may previously have
been presented to them ; you can make a horse
leave his oats by sprinkling pepper over them.
But to the point : There are about an equal
number who enjoy it, and it is always best to try
and avoid whims and deny one's self in every
possible manner till after the milk flows freely.
A woman cannot sink on plenty of nice oat,
corn-meal, or flour-gruel, minute pudding or toast
panacea, given often in small quantities. Of
course if any article, however well liked, is made
by the gallon, so to speak, and warmed over and
again, it will become to be loathed ; and too great
quantities taken may cause much distress in the
stomach. Gruels of all kinds should be well
mixed with boiling water in a clean, block tin,
covered pail ; then set in a clean vessel of water
to boil, stirring it till well done. Coarse grain
PRECAUTIONS AFTER THE MONTH. 5 1
porridges should always be strained ; as also
should broths.
For fluids : — Shells, broma, hot milk, pure or
watered to suit, are each of themselves nourishing.
If the mother's milk is scant, a tea made of Indian
posy or life everlasting, and drunk as table tea,
with milk and sugar, if desirable, is good to
increase it. The diet .should become gradually
solid, say in the early part of the day a broiled
lamb chop, broiled beef, liver, tripe, sirloin steak,
or broths without vegetables. Broiled meats
retain the nutritive principles better than when
otherwise cooked. If tea or coffee is found to
lessen the flow of milk, it may be inferred that if
continued, all of the fluids of the body will mat'eri-
ally change.
.A strict adherence to the aforesaid rules would,
in a great measure, be the means of preventing
cholera of infants at the breast, particularly in our
crowded cities. By all means should child-bearing
women eat more freely of Indian or bran bread.
Brown bread can be made fresh every day where
meals have to be prepared. Bread, cakes, or
pastries that are puffed with soda, or whitened, or
colored with any chemical substance, is not good
for the health. Too much soda thins the blood ;
also induces baldness. Mothers of former days
delighted in preparing good bread, which is the
staff of life. Constipation seldom if ever troubles
52
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
those that use coarse bread, and avoid much salt
meat. Giving infants just a taste of every sus-
picious article as a sort of initiation does not
always prove a sure preventive against colic. It
is an old custom, and was doubtless adapted to its
times and places, better knowledge, better acts.
Self-denial is required of us in the Holy Writ as
the only alternative, if we would be wise.
CHAPTER XH.
GENERAL TREATMENT OF INFANTS.
Children are given to parents only for a life-
time ; it may be long, or it may be very short ; but
to array them in fine linens, with bare neck and
arms, as has been and is now to a great extent the
custom in many refined communities, for public
exhibition, is, it seems to me, a questionable act
of parental affection. Yet many do so, and boast,
when otherwise advised, of their ability to toughen.
Mother, your child may be only one of a hundred
to survive such experiments ; ninety-nine may
have been relieved by an early death.
I have looked upon the lifeless form of babes
whose would-be friends had failed to toughen, but
had succeeded in contributing a bud to the garden
GENERAL TREATMENT OF INFANTS. 53
of the dead, — yea, shrouded just as they dressed
them while living. Thanks to our Heavenly
Father, these cruel customs are fast declining ; and
we may hope the day is not far distant when the
feelings of the tender infants will be better pro-
tected, and their bodies covered with more comfort-
able material. We often see, and are expected
to admire, pet dogs on the streets, covered well
with cloth, though supplied with Nature's gar-
ment. Should pet Carlo die, his loss is mourned
as much as that of many infants ; in hundreds of
cases, being borne to the cemetery followed by a
number of carriages and placed in a locality
adorned with monument and iron fence.
Too often babies are subjected to a variety of
tortures unawares. They are expected to endure,
and remain perfectly quiet, with cold food, hot
food, cold air, hot air, clean clothes, dirty clothes,
wet or dry clothes, thin or thick clothes, wind,
dust, light or darkness, noise or quiet, scolding or-,
caressing, squeezing, jolting and beating; finally
they endure what no man or woman would, from
one week to two years old, or till able to speak for
deliverance. Previous to this time they could only
squirm and kick and cry, and then, being con-
sidered sick, would be forced to take soothing
drops or castor-oil. But now they can tell of their
little trials by some "sound word" or striking
sign.
54
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
One part of the clothing of infants should not
press, nor be more thickly folded, than the other.
Bands and straps should be made wide and smooth.
The belly-band should always be fastened on the
side.
While travelling in steam-cars, coaches, etc., in-
fants should lie down as much as possible, as sit-
ting upright and being jostled about is liable to
strain or injure for life some part of the unfinished
spine ; and, too, it may bring on severe vomiting
and purging. When a journey is to be taken over
a long route and the child is fed from a bottle,
some more solid food should be substituted ; as
the continual re-warming of the milk, combined
with the motion, renders.it unfit for nourishment.
It is more frequently overfeeding and prolonged ex-
citement that causes children to fret so when trav-
elling, than a want of their accustomed food, A
little finely-pounded, newly-corned, beef, and the
compound Graham cracker, is a convenient lunch
to take on a journey, especially in hot weather.
This may be considered coarse fare for a babe two
or three months old ; but properly given, could it
be so injurious as keeping them trotting, feeding
on sweetened milk and water, alternating with
cookies or candies which, as many can testify, is
practised daily on some of our routes of travel.
As a general thing, if babes are well fed and
otherwise made comfortable at every convenient
GENERAL TREATMENT OF INFANTS.
55
interval, then allowed to lie quiet or sleep, one will
need no better company on a long journey. They
soon get used to changes if the change really is
for their comfort.
Very young children have no more control over
their eyes than they have over their lungs ; and
by facing an open window, as they are frequently
allowed to do, often get some particle of dust in
their eyes, causing them to sob and fret for miles.
Should they be old enough to rub the eyes, the
loving friend or guardian pronounces the cause of
the suffering sleepiness, or hunger. Then comes
the old bottle; if the babe doesn't drink from it,
the poor little one is rolled and trotted, and some-
times slyly slapped, as a means of subduing the
temper of the little . It will never do to tell
what names such people call their own dear flesh
and blood.
Fanning is good pastime for some women, but
it is no less injurious to themselves than it is to
infants, provided they apply it without regard to
the condition of the body. When children are too
warm their wraps should be adapted to the tem-
perature ; fanning can do more harm in a few mo-
ments, than could be repaired in a month.
A lady, going visiting with her first heir, was
asked to lay off her babe's wraps. " Oh," said she,
" there is no use in putting handsome wraps on
baby, if I am to take them off while visiting." I
56
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
may have said quite enough to prove that exposing
babes to the sudden changes of temperature and
atmosphere may be productive of a variety of
stomach and intestinal complaints at each season
of the year. Even when precaution is exercised
there will be unguarded moments when the germ
of disease will enter the system; but those mo-
ments should be few. I have tried to prescribe
preventives as I go along which I know can be
read and put up by almost any housekeeper,
whether she has graduated in Chemistry or not.
Extra caution should be exercised with small
children in midsummer as school vacations draw
hear, as then the older children are much depended
upon to care for the younger. It frequently hap-
pens that a child who has been quite thrifty begins
to fall back about vacation time.
"Dog-days," they say, "give children cholera
infantum," when the truth of the matter is, the
accustomed food has been reduced both in quan-
tity and quality, and they are compelled to eat or
suck candies, swallow pieces of nuts, fruits, cakes,
pickles, or anything the larger children choose to
give. "Baby must go to ride in the carriage;"
yes, and remain for hours without food, or, what is
as bad, given milk to drink from a bottle that has
lain beside the warm body for hours. In fact, the
child thus treated may continue to pine, and really
starve at the very time it should have been
TIME FOR WEANING.
57
more lavishly fed. The system of infants has to
be guarded at all times and in all places ; but more
especially in our New England climate, where the
atmosphere is so extremely varied. Even if a
child does suck the breast, it can be fed through
the day, now on oatmeal and milk, and again on
plain Indian meal or flour pudding. By these
means, warmth is supplied to the blood, and
strength to the nerves and muscles.
I hope no one will understand me as advocating
heat alone as a life preserver, for I do not. It is
heat alone that renders the systems of many
children so susceptible to colds. It is uniformity
and moderation in their whole management that I
am trying to impress upon the minds of all who
may desire to profit thereby.
CHAPTER XIII.
TIME FOR WEANING.
It is claimed, and no doubt rightfully, that it is
the children of the poorer classes who suffer most
in large cities from bowel complaints. To this
too many are ready to say, " Amen."
But there are duties involving upon each and
all, rich or poor, from which none can expect to
58
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
be excused till the last known part has been per-
formed. As the chances now appear, there need
be no lack of the common comforts of life in most
of our large cities and towns. This is a land of
opportunities ; in it the laborer gets, or should
get, his hire. It therefore becomes his privilege
to aid by prudence, industry, and economy, in
elevating his family to the discouragement of
pauperism and wilful neglect of the laws of
health.'
It very often happens that those very persons,
who claim to be too poor to obtain the necessary
comforts of life for their little ones, will not
hesitate to purchase some extortionately high-
priced article, for which they must enslave them-
selves to pay by the week or month, and which is
of far less value than their own or their children's
health. I would suggest here that an extra ten-
cent piece be deposited in safe keeping each day
as a surety for a baby's comforts for the first six
months ; which should afterward be increased to
twenty cents a day, and thus continued during its
childhood.
When a child is five or six months old, it is best
to begin to feed once or twice a day, so that the
weaning may not be too suddenly enforced upon
it. Bread, crumbled in a small quantity of milk,
corn-meal pudding, mutton or chicken broth,
Graham biscuit; very little salt added to the
TIME FOR WEANING.
59
porridges is healthy. But no disagreeable sub-
stances, such as aloes, pepper or salt, should be
applied to the nipples for the purpose of weaning
a child ; a plaster of wool or fur is more safe for
the health of the child.
In this climate (Massachusetts) there are many
families who fear to wean their children at any
season of the year ; many of them migrating from
a climate less variable, and in which the customs
of feeding infants are altogether different. Such
mothers are deserving of no small share of
sympathy. I am acquainted with hundreds of
them ; thank God there are some good mothers,
good enough to take the blame upon themselves
should their infants sicken and die after being
weaned. But for all such there may be found in
this little cabinet a consoling word.
Weaning is advisable before June and before
December. But if a child does not thrive by
reason of some constitutional weakness of the
mother, it could probably rally faster by being fed
otherwise, at any season of the year.
But whether a child is weakly or not it can gain
nothing by continuing to suck after the ninth
month; therefore, weaning is recommended about
this period. If the mother breeds fast, a pro-
longed season of nursing but keeps her unpre-
pared, both in strength and household matters, for
the next. Then, too, it retards the healthy de-
6o
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
velopment of the new being, should she become
pregnant while nursing. Although the mother's
milk is essential to the proper growth of the child,
history records evidences of noble-minded men and
women who never nursed the breast, yet lived to
a great age.
A great deal depends upon circumstances ; for
instance, it may be that even with apparently
nutritive milk, the bones remain soft, the joints
weak, and the flesh wastes away or remains the
same. Such cases are not uncommon, especially
among the very hard-working people or real
indigent. Hence the necessity of seeking medical
advice as to the best possible means of supplying
the blood with those principles apparently lacking.
From my experience as nurse, I can say that
weaning from the breast may be successfully
accomplished if begun pleasantly, but decidedly,
and continued. The months of May and October
in the New England States are the most favor-
able ; April and November in the Middle States,
while in almost all of the Southern States weaning
is advisable in March and November or December.
Waiting for a child to get all of its teeth is
merely a matter of choice. Beside the inconveni-
ence of the differences in the periods of time when
the teeth get through, there is ah unnecessary
drain on the system of the mother, with no benefit
whatever to the child.
CHOLERA INFANTUM VS. STARVATION. 6 1
The efforts put forth by some women to retard
child-bearing is not so good as " Robbing Peter to
pay Poll," because in such cases Peter is robbed,
but Polly is never paid. So it seems to me that if
these little ones are given in quick succession, it is
just as well to have them and get through with it.
Many arc the women who have borne a dozen or
more children into the world, and afterwards filled
positions of nobility and trust.
By taking particular notice which course is best
to pursue with a child of seven or nine months,
I sincerely believe ^the large number of infantile
deaths, under one year, would be much less.
Deferring weaning for the predominance of some
certain sign in the heavens, does not accord with
our present progress in knowledge.
CHAPTER XIV.
SECTION I.
CHOLERA INFANTUM VERSUS STARVATION.
If cholera of infants can be reckoned as a dis-
tinct disease, then can starvation. Whether star-
vation causes two-thirds of all the infantile mortal-
ities, during the latter part of summer and the first
part of autumn, or not, the symptoms indicate
62
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
much the same treatment as in cholera. This
statement can only* be proved by close unbiased
observations ; books can never do it.
We will first notice some of the symptoms of
starvation which may be present in real consump-
tive babes, also the signs of starvation that may
develop in cholera ; after which I shall endeavor to
describe the symptoms of cholera as viewed in the
light of a disease.
Starvation of a child is seldom detected by
friends who may be constantly caring for it, but
the eye of a practitioner cannot fail to do so at
once, assisted by the required information. Not-
withstanding, a physician may permit doubts to
enter the mind, or through over cautiousness con-
ceal the real opinion.
SIGNS OF STARVATION.
A child may be apparently well and hearty at
birth, may thrive even at the breast for a few
months ; then all at once seem to fail. It may be
fed on whatever is ordered if not at the breast from
the first ; yet barely live on for months, whining,
drooping, and struggling, as it were, to live. Such
patients lay awake, listen, and watch the motion of
passing objects; when spoken to, will try to in-
dicate something, look pitiful, act intelligent con-
cerning wearing apparel or toys. In fact such a
child is termed cross. It will cry after everything
CHOLERA INFANTUM VS. STARVATION. 63
it sees, and that it don't see; will slap things, such
as cake or crackers, out of your hand. Nothing
offered is welcomed as a relish. The bowels are
generally loose, the urine copious ; yet in many
cases the water is voided in Inrge quantities, while
the bowels are dry. The eyes retain their bright-
ness, as if to invite attention to the fact, " I would
thrive if I had what I need." The patient may
drink half a gallon a day without the least sign of
satisfaction.
Starvation may begin with the foetal develop-
ment either from lack of nourishment from the
system of the parent, or by reason of repeated at-
tempts at abortion ; either of which is sufficient to
blunt the vitality of the germ. Such children are
likely to '* hang on," perhaps till the period of
youth, and with good care may arrive to manhood
or womanhood. The most doubtful cases are
those that have a dry cough, eat a great deal, yet
are never content, bloat at certain times, and grow
more stupid ; the body becoming a mere skeleton,
and with difficulty kept warm. The new being is
dependent upon the state of the parent's blood
from the moment of conception till weaned from
the breast. If the food upon which a child is fed
is the cause of the trouble, it should be changed as
soon as possible. If from other causes there are
medicines which can in a measure supply the
needed basis. But generally the real cause is not
64
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
known or even suspected until too late to repair
the injury, and the patient dies after having exhib-
ited all signs of consumption. Children born of
consumptive parents may come out quite bright
in some branches of thought, yet be quite delicate,
seldom passing the flower of youth in life.
I feel incompetent to decide whether a consump-
tive mother had better nurse her child, and thus
fasten the germ of disease upon it, with a view to
prolonging her own life; or whether it is best for
her to yield to her fate, and substitute some dif-
ferent food for the chance of her child's life.
SECTION II.
SYMPTOMS OF EMPTINESS OR STARVATION, WHICH
MAY LEAD TO CHOLERA.
If, as heretofore mentioned, the solid or nutritive
principle of the milk has been withheld from the
babe by adulteration in any way, the blood be-
comes watery, the fat cells cannot develop, the tis-
sues that hold the fluid with which to moisten the
parts dries away, and the flesh becomes soft or
skinny. The milk may be nutritive, too, and yet
for some reason fail to mix with the juices in the
stomach so as to insure healthy blood.
These facts, however, are seldom found out by a
casual medical attendant until the powers of diges-
tion are too weak to derive much benefit from an-
CHOLERA INFANTUM VS. STARVATION. 6$
Other kind of diet. Besides, the expense of the
articles mostly ordered by physicians renders a
trial almost out of the question. There are, how-
ever, many articles of nourishment obtainable,
which, if perseveringly administered, will do much
to assist in building up the little frame.
The most marked of the signs that may end in
cholera are vomiting, dulness of the eyes, rolling
the head, as if to rock, spitefully crying when taken
up to be changed, and begging for everything, as
they say; also crying, if old enough, for the very
things no one thinks it should have. If a child
could have some of what it smells and craves, at
such times, no doubt but that recovery would com-
mence. But a general languidness of the whole
system, and a loathing of the sight of a bottle or
its accustomed food, shows signs of certain destruc-
tion. In the last stage the child screams faintly,
starts at the sound of almost anything ; sometimes
the breathing is scarcely perceptible. The dis-
charges from the bowels are seldom white and
frothy, as in the last stage of acute cholera; owing,
perhaps, to the fact that the diet has been con-
tinued in the former, whereas in the latter all
food is generally suspended during treatment,
except it be fluids of the mildest nature; unlike
in the last stage of consumption, when the little
sufferer seems to watch every movement of its
nearest friend, sometimes rising half way up to
66
mp:dical DiscouRS?:y.
look about, then falling back exhausted, it now
lies quiet.
It may be remarked just here that infants af-
fected with inanition or starvation, consumption
and cholera, most invariably retain to the last hour
their instinct to suck, whether it be of the bottle
or of the breast It is a well-known fact that in-
fants who were nearly destroyed by starvation
from being fed on poor milk by hand, have been
successfully raised by being put on breast-milk.
SECTION HI.
CHOLERA INFANTUM. INFANTILE CHOLERA.
We will now consider that much-dreaded disease
termed "cholera infantum." I have seen babes at-
tacked with it from two weeks old and upwards.
A child may be nursing at the breast or feeding
from a bottle, when all of a sudden it leaves off,
and looks languidly about in a comparatively stupid
and pitiful manner; the eyes lose tkeir lustre,
are rolled about as if not noticing any particular
object. Fluids are thrown up as soon as swal-
lowed ; passages from the bowels are frequent,
though many times but a speck in the centre of a
wet napkin, most of the report being wind. The
matter discharged at first is likely to show in some
measure the cause of the irritation.
After the acidity has been corrected by medi-
CilOI.KRA IXFANTL'.M VS. STARVATION. 6/
cines, unlike a sim|)le looseness, the purging and
vomiting of infantile cholera still continue, show-
ing conclusively the inactivity of the internal or-
gans of digestion. In some cases the remedies
that are scientifically administered pass out into
the napkin unchanged ; in others, they seem to
lodge somewhere and dry up. The chances are
always considered favorable to recovery if the
remedies have a desirable action.
A child may drool or throw up its food at any
time, yet be quite healthy. If a babe is sucking,
and the mother indulges in a mixed or meat and
vegetable diet too early, the first passages after
it is taken sick will show signs of heat, fermenta-
tion and inflammation ; they will either be of a
deep yellow, or more or less green, and slimy.
In such instances it is always advisable to take
the infant from the breast for a while and feed it
on arrow-root boiled in water, till the acidity is
corrected ; then in milk, no sugar being added,
alternating with gum-arabic water. The mother,
or wet-nurse, having been put under strict diet
for a week, might with propriety resume nursing.
Robust, perfectly developed children are apt to
exhibit considerable vitality through the different
phases of the disease ; but as far as my experience
has been, they succumb to the worst more quickly
than the more delicate-appearing.
As the disease progresses the little sufferer
68
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
will thrust its fingers in its mouth, as if to intimate
hunger or dryness, and gag, as though something
was sticking in the throat. The hands and arms
are the most active. The lower extremities are
seldom moved from one position ; and when moved
by any one, they are quickly reversed. Every
movement of the body, in bathing or changing, is
followed by a discharge from the bowels. These
discharges vary in consistence even before any
medicine has been given. After the bowels have
been purged, as is recommended by most physi-
cians to begin with, the discharges from the
bowels may run off frequently, and in small
quantities, depositing in the napkin a whitish,
frothy fluid, which settles down to a chalky sub-
stance, giving out the smell of lime. If such
emissions continue, they will effect a rapid des-
truction ; or they may have the same appearance
from the beginning if the internal organs have
been previously rendered weak from starvation,
or rather where the food has been but liltle better
than water sweetened ; and, too, these frothy
emissions greatly chafe the parts if they are
allowed to remain soiled.
The tongue is dry and stiff, as a general thing,
throughout the disease. The body, with the
exception of the belly, is dry and cool. The
mouth is apt to be hot from the beginning, a sign
remarked by mothers who have suckled babes
CHOLERA INFANTUM VS. STARVATION. 69
with cholera ; in the last stage, the disposition to
sleep, but start at the least noise; the mouth lying
half open, the intelligent attempts to suck; the
decrease of the discharges from the bowels ; the
cessation of retching; the sinking in of the fea-
tures; the nervous grasping, as if to catch some
passing object ; jerking of the body, and moaning,
may be looked upon as unfavorable signs.
It is a great mistake to conclude that infants
will have cholera if weaned early, or if they are to
be artifically nursed. The fear comes from
persons having been so educated within the last
half century.
All kinds of preparations are advertised and
eagerly sought for baby diet ; as if the internal
organs of babes were entirely different from what
they were before, and must needs be supplied with
something more supernatural than those of the
adult. The symptoms of cholera are by no means
uniform. For instance, they may be cut short, or
aggravated by overdosing, before the facts in
the case are made known. Thus, if paregoric,
laudanum, or any alcoholic carminatives are
habitually put in the drink, the most marked
signs will be the smell of the breath, the presence
of constipation, stupor and sinking in of the
features more or less, with very little vomiting.
Such cases, no doubt, are seldom admitted, the
victims being dead, or nearly so, when medical aid
is called.
70
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
SECTION IV.
GENERAL TREATMENT OF CHOLERA INFANTUM,
MEDICAL AND DOMESTIC.
Unfortunately for many children, it is usually
in the last stage of the disease that a physician is
consulted. Probably any number of palliatives
have been given with good intentions and high
hopes of success. For one, the old cleaning-out
remedy, so much thought of by old ladies, and
doctors not a few, — castor-oil. Whatever may be
deemed as proper treatment, it should be remem-
bered that nothing short of the most untiring vigi-
lance on the part of the attendant, guided by Di-
vine aid, can bring success in raising a child on
whom cholera has fastened its blighting fangs.
Yet what encouragement it is to know that by
those means it can be saved.
My course for the last fifteen years has been to
first ascertain, if possible, the cause of cholera, and
have it removed; also particularly to inquire how
long it has been since the child has been noticed
to fail in the effort to suck ; then as to the color
and frequency of the discharges. I have never
known, through my observations of over twenty-
three years, any better corrector of acidity, sour-
ness in the human bowels, than calcined magnesia.
CHOLERA INFANTUM VS. STARVATION. 7I
After giving from two to three grains every hour,
or according to the degree of acidity, until it is all
apparently changed, then, as cautiously as needful,
I proceed to quiet the motion of the bowels, as
in case of purging within the month, by the use of
mixture No. i, which ii put up by a regular
chemist, and given according to directions, can be
no more objectionable because inserted in this
little book than thousands of other recipes scat-
tered over the community by tons in expensive
books.
No. I, R. Mixtura Creatae, preperata, zj. — Chalk
Mixture, Aquas Cinnam. zss. — Cinnamon Water.
Add Opii Tinct. Gutta vj. — Laudanum.
Shake well before using. Dose — A small tea-
spoonful after each stool. Increase the dose ac-
cording to age of patient. Of course it is not
expected that the inexperienced would attempt to
administer anything other than domestic remedies,
unless put up according to the rules of art.
For a decided case of cholera, it is best to begin
with half a teaspoonful of the mixture ; which, by
the by, should be sucked down by the patient very
slowly, in order to have it remain on the stomach.
No time should be wasted listening to the old story
of working off a bowel complaint ; few are the
adults that ever have survived the experiment,
much less the weakly infant. Deaths from cholera
cannot possibly be so numerous in consequence of
72
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
the discharges having been checked too soon, for
the usual precaution is not to arrest them ; so
they are let to go on increasing, till all hopes of
contracting the vessels are vain. It would be
well in all cases before administering Mixture No.
I, to fill a flannel bag with hops, wring it out of
warm, salt water and lay it over the chest and
belly, re-wetting every two hours ; this done will
alone sometimes prove successful.
When the mouth remains dry and hot, a little
cool water, sucked slowly from a spoon, does seem
to revive the little sufferer, and I have no reason
to doubt its efficacy in abating the suffering, if not
the disease. Stimulant astringents are what is
needed after the passages are checked. The least
mite of Nature's stimulant — common salt — laid
on the back part of the tongue, will excite a flow
of saliva, and greatly assist in removing a sort of
hair-worm which has been noticed to infest the
throat in some patients. When there is a con-
tinuance of vitality, and the passages continue to
be green, or tinged with blood, and external cooling
applications, as of flaxseed poultices, have been
well tried, an effort should be made to stimulate
the liver ; this is very likely to be the case where
the age and constitution of the child is sufficient
to permit the disease to run on for quite a while.
Hydrargium chloridum-calomel, is sometimes the
most reliable drug that can be used to correct
CHOLERA INFANTUM VS. STARVATION. 73
that. This drug is unsafe in the hands of the
inexperienced, but quick and safe when under the
guidance of medical skill. The dose for a child
six months old should never exceed one-sixteenth
of a grain, or one grain in sixteen hours, followed
by a sip of warm milk.
The nourishment during this time should con-
sist of the breast-milk, if possible ; if not, arrow-
root boiled in milk and gum water, fed from a
spoon twice a day, or oftener. But either should
always be given about a half hour after any
medicine, unless otherwise directed. Cold water
should never be allowed to a patient while
medicine is being administered, the nature of
which is unknown. Light, air, sponging the body
with warm salt water, a change of clothing or
bedding, each tends to stimulate the pores,
quench thirst, and give tone to the whole system.
Thin flour- gruel acts as a pasty lining to the
entrails. After the irritation has ceased, great
care is required to prevent a relapse ; therefore in
all cases when the breast-milk cannot be obtained,
the various vegetable astringents should be relied
on to build up the muscles, the different grains,
as cornmeal, starch and oatmeal, given often
but in small quantities, will build up the fat cells.
If, after the liver has been acted upon, the green
stools do not cease, and there seem to be a general
weakness of the digestive organs, the juice of the
74
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
blackberry, raspberry, or v^jhortleberry, will, in
most cases, effect a cure ; also, the rinds of ripe
peaches boiled in milk till well done, strained, and
given when cool — a teaspoonful five or six times
during the day, and about as often at night — is
excellent. The effect of either of these remedies
should be closely watched, as by their astringent
nature they might induce cofistipation.
With a view to the comfort of the sick one, and
the convenience of the nurse, it is better to pre-
pare a bed of some light material, on which the
patient can lie with its body flexed. Too often
the little creature is forced to lie in a narrow
place, or more frequently on the lap, in one
position, till it would seem as if it would be
paralyzed. There should be two sets of bedding
in order to expedite recovery. The material
should consist of goods that could be easily
washed, and kept clean. It ^is essential, too, that
flannel be worn by the sick one ; but it is a sad
mistake to imagine that flannel clothes do not
need changing as often as cotton ones.
When I have suggested a bed for sick infants,
some grandmas have thought me cruel. But in
such critical cases as the one in question, a few
moments' trotting and rolling on the lap might
undo all that it had taken weeks to do. Should
the stomach become settled, but the lower bowels
remain rather weak and liable to looseness, and
CHOLERA INFANTUM VS. STARVATION. 75
there is no fever present, I think much of the
burnt brandy in small doses. I prepare it in the
following manner : Take a wineglassful of the
best brandy, one tablespoonful of refined sugar,
dissolve it well, then pour it in a shallow dish and
set fire to it with a lighted paper, not a match ;
when the blue flame is off it is fit for use, and
should be put in a clean vial and labelled. Of
this, I give to a child six weeks old and upward,
six drops in a little water, say about three times
within twelve hours. To one six months and
upward, I give ten to fifteen drops twice a day.
This warms up the stomach and stimulates the
digestive fluid glands to action. After the brandy
has had the desired effect, a speedy recovery may
be hoped for. The bathing, nourishing diet,
quietness, and, above all, patience, need to be
continued with greater zeal when recovery is
apparent. The recovery from cholera is probable
only when the surroundings are favorable; it is
doubtful where the locality is densely inhabited,
the disease prevalent, and where there is a lack of
means to provide ample care and nourishment.
Patients recovering from a disease like cholera,
which so undermines the nervous system, require
a deal of determination to 'prevent the undoing of
what has been done by catering to their whims.
76
MEDICAI. DISCOURSES.
CHAPTER XV.
THE CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF CHOLERA
INFANTUM.
It has been argued, authoritatively, no doubt, that
the causes of cholera infantum are, poor milk,
bad air arising from old water-soaked cellars, of
tenement houses, or when it affects those of all
conditions in life, the rich, the poor, the black and
the white, — its cause is said to be in some atmos-
pherical phenomena. I think the last mentioned
might be reconsidered, since it appears, from no-
ticing the health records, that mortalities from this
disease have increased in extremely warm weather
only in proportion to the influx of emigrants.
If poor or adulterated milk were the cause, there
should be an entire absence of the disease at
present, since such stringent efforts are now put
forth to punish the wretch who dares adulterate
the milk he sells.
Quite enough has been published of late con-
cerning the adulteration of milk by putting in salt-
petre, chalk, glucose, anotta, and other ingredients
for the purpose of increasing the density, while
water is added to increase the quantity. Admit-
ting these shameful facts, have they not been prac-
tised long enough for the news to have reached
the ears of every housewife in America? Why, I
PREVENTION OF CHOLERA INFANTUM. 7/
have been hearing those reports at different times
for forty years. With these facts, then, so gener-
ally known, why do people water the milk they buy,
and depend on it for the support and nourishment
of infants ? There is trouble somewhere. Chil-
dren have been successfully raised on miik from
animals, both in city and country, at all seasons of
the year, in hot or cold climates ; and many
thousands of aged mothers to-day, could doubtless
advise young women in the matter of baby raising,
did they not settle down in the thought that the
young people are getting all such knowledge along
with their great facilities for education. Oh, how
sadly mistaken have many thousands gone to iheir
long home !
The management of cholera infantum is not to
be coveted ; the best of all is to know how to pre-
vent it. I sincerely believe that the greater num-
ber of cases of cholera are induced by the unnat-
ural custom of preparing a bottle of food, and put-
ting the child in a position to sleep while it sucks
from it. Where is the woman or man who can
sleep and eat at the same time The mode of pre-
paring it is generally putting a little milk with a
quantity of water, and a little sugar, into a half -pint
bottle — if the babe is only a few days old — and this
is kept close to its warm body for hours, or what
is just as bad, re-warmed every time it is suspected
that the baby is hungry.
78
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
Pure milk needs no watering; it is simply con-
verted into slops by so doing. It contains natu-
rally sugar, butter, lime, and all that is required for
the nourishment of the young.
The saliva of the glands of the mouth and the
juices of the stomach are as fully able to dilute and
separate the life principles of milk for a babe, as
they are to prepare solid food for the maintenance
of the adult. We eat a beefsteak in its purity,
risking the after effects ; were there more ventures
in administering pure food to helpless infants, no
doubt but there would soon appear a change in the
physique of our young men and women.
To insure a healthy meal, an infant should in-
variably be fed with care before laying it down
from the very first day of its attempt to suck from
a bottle, for the following reasons : —
As the babe dozes, its breath goes down the
tube ; the heat and churning motion together sep-
arate the butter globules from the fluid so that they
cannot get through the holes, unless, as is often
the case, the holes are made too large, for some
selfish convenience. And by this latter means
the danger of strangulation becomes more immi-
nent if the child is left alone. Scores of times
have I seen the infant tugging away between naps,
for hours, trying to get what it should have finished
in less than twenty or thirty minutes, and beea
sleeping soundly.
PREVENTION OF CHOLERA INFANTUM.
79
Numbers of them cry half the night, or are
pacified by having the rubber nipple of a filthy-
smelling sucking-bottle continually stuck in the
mouth. Thus some babes are literally v^^orn out
sucking, trying to get a bare subsistence. Even if
an infant nurses from the breast, it is wrong to
put off suckling it till the pov^ers are almost over-
come by sleep. While we are aware that its
breath cannot go into the mamma, the liability to
strangulation is none the less apparent.
There can be no more important duties to per-
form in the capacity of housekeeping than that
of caring for the helpless babe. Women doctors,
or, more properly speaking, doctresses of medicine,
although usually treated with less courtesy by
doctors, are, nevertheless, by them considered to
be in their proper sphere in the confinement-room
and nursery. While I feel under no obligations
to them for their charity, I must admit their
honesty and truthfulness in the matter ; for surely
woman cannot fill a single position in the world so
freighted with material, out of which the moral
and physical condition of humanity can be affected
either for good or evil.
8o
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
CHAPTER XVI.
CONVENIENT METHODS FOR RAISING INFANTS WITH-
OUT THE BREAST.
A SMALL bottle holding an ounce, for the first,
should be in readiness; a smooth round hole made
in the cork, through which to put a quill ; the
whole to be well covered with a strong soft linen,
the edges of which should be hemmed and securely
tied under the lip of the bottle. This constituted
a sucking-bottle of fifty years ago. The modern
rubber tube and nipple, if composed of healthy ma-
terial, removed from the mouth and washed as
soon as possible after using, may do as well. If a
child is allowed to sleep all it naturally inclines to,
four ounces of milk or two of cream will suffice it
during the day, say from seven or eight o'clock in
the morning until six in the evening. From
that time until bed-time, say nine or ten o'clock,
half as much. After ten, the feeding should be as
seldom as will allow of comfort. In this way, one
pint of milk or half a pint of pure cream will be
sufficient to last a babe of from one to four weeks
old, a whole day, allowing the cream to be in-
creased to nearly a pint by watering. The quan-
tity should be increased gradually, while the number
of meals during the night should decrease. By
METHODS FOR RAISING INFANTS.
8l
these means a babe will soon cease to be any
trouble after bed hours. Only remember that it
has nerves, through which it is supplied with feel-
ings.
A small bottle insures renewal of the food, for
positively the same milk that a child has tried to
draw from a bottle for any length of time is not fit
to be re -warmed or offered to it again; and if
persisted in, will act as a slow poison, which may
develop into cholera at any period of infantile ex-
istence. Again, if milk flows evenly, the butter
globules do not form in the bottle. If the milk
flows too fast into the child's mouth, the healthful
benefits of a meal is lost.
I have often seen mothers force, with apparent
anger, great spoonfuls down the throats of their
babes ; perhaps such would think this cruel if
done by a nurse or overburdened servant-girl.
If a child has cold in the head, so that the nos-
trils are stopped, means should be used at once to
clear them. No one can swallow properly with
the nostrils stopped up. To remove the cause
daily will prevent those sickening accumulations.
A strict attention to cleanliness, and frequent ap-
plications of sweet oil, or lard, or goose oil, with a
feather, is all that is wanting to prevent so many
cases of sore noses, terminating in the entire loss
of smell, and not infrequently the destruction of
the soft bones of the nose, or even the cause of
82
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
cancer. Feeding during the night should be dis-
continued as soon as possible, as it is then that
mistakes of giving the food too hot or too cold are
liable to occur. Night feeding may only be
avoided by encouraging babes to keep awake dur-
ing the evening. But if they must be put to sleep
early in the evening, as a rule, to suit some one's
convenience, it may be expected that, as a rule,
they will wake up just when other people are
sleepy, and desire some notice. Infants from
three months old and upward will thrive well on a
pint and a half of milk a day, but will get on much
faster if fed with rolled compound cracker and
milk during the day. It is needful to give some
babes fluids only, while others starve on them. It
is the continual emptiness that causes many chil-
dren to fret and whine; for whatever they smell,
cooking excites their appetites more or less as they
grow in intelligence. And, too, children take ap-
petites from their parents in a marked degree.
As a doctress, I never could feel it justifiable to
direct any woman to wean her babe on account of
any conceited inability on her part to suckle it.
I knew a lady whose infant of two weeks was
taken suddenly ill while nursing. A doctor was
sent for, and when he was informed by the mother
that her milk was too rich for the babe, he at once
advised her to wean it. What more, think you,
could have been expected with a diet of soft boiled
METHODS FOR RAISING INFANTS. 83
eggs for breakfast, custards for dinner, and wines
or ales at night? Surely if women ask no ques-
tions of the doctors, no answers can be given. It
does seem too bad to punish the child for the
faults of the parent. Eggs, like fish, may act like
sure poison to the milk of a nursing woman. The
continued dry belly-ache or wind colic so much
fretted over by old ladies in the past, was but a
sequence of the custom of feeding lying-in women
on wine custards. During the time of those baby af-
flictions it seldom entered the mind of either nurse
or doctor what caused the almost universal three
months' "belly-ache" of infants. Articles that
may not perceptibly affect the mother or wet-
nurse, as the case may be, may prove certain death
to the sucking babe.
Infants should never be obliged to lie over their
accustomed hours of rising. If necessity demands
this, however, there can be far more gained by
taking up, cleaning, exercising, and giving them a
fresh supply of food. It is not that too much
sleep may be enjoyed, but that the condition in
which it is taken should warrant the refreshment
needed to build up the new being.
Soft bones, enlarged joints, inverted feet, flat-
tened back-heads, sickening sores, dropsy, blind-
ness, and numerous ills have befallen infants from
the thoughtless practice of letting them lie too
much in soiled clothes, and being insufficiently fed.
84
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
In the matter of early rising, the farmer's child has
the advantage of the city child. In the country a
babe is looked upon as one of the family, with
rights that men are bound to respect; but in the
city it is, "Wait dear, till Johnny comes home
from school."
There may appear small white scales or patches
on the tongue and inner surface of the mouth.
This is commonly called "thrush." It is usually
caused by too great heat, either of surroundings
or diet. Sugar in large quantities will create it in
some babes. This complaint may run on to an
alarming extent, but yields readily to mild treat-
ment timely applied. It not infrequently happens
that, during the presence of apthse in the mouth,
the back passage becomes sore, or presents much
the same appearance. The thrush is then said
by old ladies to have gone through the child's
bowels. This can hardl.y be a fact, since the
whole trouble disappears readily upon removing
the cause.
I have seen it upon the edges and under-surface
of the eyelids, in babes that are allowed to sleep
where it is generally very close, with the face
covered over, or closely nestled to the breast of
the mother. The treatment should be cooling.
Calcined magnesia in from three to five-grain doses
daily, for a week or two, and gently washing the
scales over once a day with sugar and water, will,
METHODS FOR RAISING INFANTS. 85
if persisted in, effect a cure. Giving "baby just a
taste of everything mamma eats," is no doubt a
frequent cause of this distressing complaint.
If the appetite fails in a child, and there i-; no
perceptible cause, and the mouth is dry and hot
for a time, it will do no harm to touch the front
edge of the tongue with a mite of table-salt. One
or two trials will suffice to set the saliva flowing,
then with a little coaxing and proper food the ap-
petite will return. I may have digressed some-
what, but as aptha; is frequently accompanied by
diarrhoea, I deem it well to guard against fear and
loss of hope that might ensue from its being mis
taken for cholera. In any case of vomiting or
purging of infan's, great caution is required not to
give all kinds of palliative ssuggested by incomers ;
this is "going it blind," so to speak. Cholera is a
terrible disease, and should be subdued as speedily
as possible. At best it leaves its merciless traces
throughout the remainder of life ; the victim being
frequently annoyed by choleric pains, indigestion,
nervousness and cough. To sum up all, the
causes of cholera infantum are movable unless
fixed by some perceptible atmospherical pressure.
The causes of cholera are no doubt overlooked by
the major portion of a community where its ravages
from time to time have been the greatest, and con-
sequently no efforts are put forth in a general way
to prevent a repetition of its visits. Even where
86
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
the conditions of the atmosphere may give rise to-
cholera, its force can be modified, and the number
of fatalities lessened. I have frequently been
asked if cholera is contagious ; in answer, I can
safely say, it is not, as a disease ; but like causes
will produce like effects, in the same locality, and
at the same time. In regard to the fumes of car-
bolic acid, chloride of lime, sulphur, and the like,
as disinfectants, I believe that they are all decid-
edly depressing, and against the speedy recovery
of cholera patients if used in immediate contact.
The removal from a crowded district in time of an
apparent epidemic is decidedly commendable. It
is well known that poverty, wrctcliedness, and
crime favor an increase of mortality from this dis-
ease. Yet the prospects of thousands remain the
same year after year.
Strange 'tis, but true; in all this vast American
domain, is there not room for the welfare of God's
moving images ? In the city of Richmond, Va.,
the heat is much more constant in midsummer
than in Boston, Mass. Yet of the three hundred
visits among the most forsaken poor of the former
city, infantile cholera is comparatively rare, and
from July 15, 1877, to Oct. 30, of the same year,
I found but one case of cholera from starva-
tion ; that being a case where the parent had to
be out all day, while it fed from a bottle or sucked
on something. Whatever saved many others in
METHODS FOR RAISING INFANTS.
87
like situation, it is beyond my power to tell.
There would no doubt be more numerous fatalities
with children in warm climates if it was the almost
universal custom to feed them on slops ; but on
the contrary, where they are not at the breast,
among the laboring classes at least, they are fed
on what is convenient for the rest of the family ;
and although many times the fare is decidedly ob-
jectionable, the Lord crowns the efforts for good
with success.
Going South, as I did, a teetotaller, I was pleas-
antly surprised to find that the freed people were
no more intemperate than any other would be if
placed in like circumstances ; perhaps not so much
so as many of those who could better understand
how, when freedom came, all of the necessaries of
life were speedily cut off from them, but where
rum and ruin were, they could find an open door.
Instead of setting out a decanter and glasses, as was
the custom in the days of slavery (according to all
accounts), I noticed a delicacy, lest they might
be suspected of wrong-doing. In order to en-
courage the impression for reform, whenever an
opportunity offered, I would say that children have
grown weaker every generation in families that
have indulged in the use of rum and tobacco.
Frugality is advisable ; looking to securing a
home in the outer limits, away from all objec-
tionable odors, where rooms can be ventilated and
88
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
sunned in winter as well as in summer. Every
room in a dwelling should be swept and dusted'
once or twice a week, the beds aired, and bedding
changed. The general custorn of housekeepers
in our large and crowded cities, of keeping their
rooms dark, winter or summer, inoculates into the
system the germs of more diseases than could be
enumerated and prescribed for in a day. A cheer-
ful home with a small tract of land in the country,
with wholesome food and water, is worth more to
preserve health and life, than a house in a crowded
city with luxuries and twenty rooms to let. That
bad air is not the sole cause of infantile cholera,
I will mention an incident in proof. While travel-
ling through some of the thinly-settled districts of
the British Provinces during the prevalence of
cholera in the autumn of 1865, I noticed that
most of the children suffering from the disease
were those of parents whose circumstances would
not warrant the comforts of life. This was during
the months of September and October, when fish,
oysters, milk and eggs are indulged in to some ex-
tent. I thought the custom of advising the re-
moval of such patients to some elevated point near
the salt sea air could avail but little, since they
were near the sea-air and mostly in well-ventilated
houses, judging from the style of architecture.
Also I noticed the same uncertainty on the part of
women as to the management of the complaint as
METHODS FOR RAISING INFANTS.
89
in the States. Herb teas, no matter what their
nature, "catnip tea, castor -oil and paregoric."
Every drink sweetened, as a rule. The visits of the
doctor few and far between ; " so many cases he
can't possibly get around to them all." I had a
little charge at the time whom I never left an hour
from the time it was taken ill till its recovery, three
weeks later. The family doctor called in occasion-
ally, but the circumstances of the young parents
were such as to warrant the necessary aids to a re-
covery which it was my good fortune to administer.
This was in a thickly-settled locality in the city of
St. John, N. B., while in many upland towns of
Nova Scotia it generally proved fatal. May we
not be too willing to agree in charging our Heav-
enly Father with poisoning the air, so that it de-
stroys infants by the tens of thousands in less than
a quarter of a century .-^
Let the interested humanitarian visit those fam-
ilies where necessity demands the absence of the
parent a part or all of each day, to seek a daily sub-
sistence, leaving the youngest to the care of the
eldest, winter or summer, before deciding whether
it is a want of stamina, the depressions of the at-
mosphere, or indirect starvation which causes so
great infantile mortality at certain seasons of the
year. It is a mistake to suppose that cold milk
given to a babe in excessive hot weather will
answer as well as if warmed. The human stomach
go
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
is supplied with heat from the blood and natural
fluids, and when a quantity of anything colder than
the contents of the organ is poured into it, the
process needful to a healthy digestion cannot go
on properly.
CHAPTER XVII.
SECTION I.
TEETHING MADE EASY.
As a general thing, children begin to get teeth
from the ages of five to seven months. The mid-
dle, or incisors, in the lower jaw, are the first to
appear, one in advance of the other ; and, too,
these may get through almost unnoticed. It is a
custom with many persons to begin poking into
a babe's mouth just as soon as it shows restless-
ness, or signs of getting teeth ; and, perceiving
that it bites, as naturally it should, they at once
introduce a rubber, or some kind of hard substance,
for it to bite upon, to assist the teelh through.
This is unnatural, and liable to increase the already
feverish and fretful condition of the child. The
more artificial friction is applied, the more inflamed
will the gums become. Teaching babes to bite on
the fingers, rings, dolls, and the like, is but sub-
TEETHING MADE EASY.
91
jecting them to torture which they would gladly
repel could they speak.
There is really no set time at which babes should
get teeth ; some begin much younger than others.
There are instances recorded of children being
born with teeth ; this, however, is of rare occur-
rence ; but it is a common thing to see the forms
of well-dev^eloped teeth through the delicate, trans-
parent cover of the gums at birth. The develop-
ment of these little bones is really peculiar, and
worthy of the most profound study; but I shall
only attempt to speak here in reference to the
maturing process, or their making ready to come
through the gums, hoping, by so doing, much of
the seeming anxiety of young mothers and nurses
from this cause may be removed.
The term " critical period " is applied so much
to the process of getting teeth that it becomes
fixed upon the heart of many mothers long before
its time of beginning. The most that must be
guarded against is fatigue, either from lying or
sitting too long in one position, irregular habits
of feeding, and untidyness. The more a child
slavers when getting teeth, the better; yet this is
not always a sign of coming teeth. The slaver,
nevertheless, keeps the mouth cool and moist,
preventing dry or papular eruptions. Cold water
is advisable, given frequently from a spoon, while
the teeth are breaking through. If the child is at
92
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
the breast, well ; if not, its food should consist of
scalded milk; as it grows in strength, oatmeal is a
good addition. If hearly and craving in dispo-
sition, Graham crackers crumbled in and fed to it
with a spoon, about twice a day, generally gives
due satisfaction If the passes from the bowels
are numerous, yet healthy, a drink of gum-arabic
water two or three times a day, together with flour
added to the milk in place of oatmeal, will gener-
ally regulate them. Over distention of the stom-
ach by sweetened drinks should be strictly avoided.
The extreme fretfulness of the babe at this time is
caused by the pressure of the crown of the tooth
against the sore or swollen gum. When the teeth
get through, the cause of the distress will be re-
moved. Should the gums continue painful, as is
often the case with the double teeth, a dentist or
the family physician should be consulted at once ;
and, if Nature has made ready the bony structure
to be bared, the least touch with the lancet will
part the skin and assist it through. I repeat that
the gums in a healthy condition seldom need
lancing; they may be left to Nature. Admitting,
however, that there are numerous cases of daily
occurrence where the lancet ought to be applied,
it is positively forbidden by some would-be friend.
The surest way to stop toothache in the adult is
to extract the decayed member, and so the surest
way to cut short the sufferings of an innocent babe,
TEETHING MADE EASY.
93
whose gums are swollen and painful, is to lance
the gum, and let the tooth come through. Chil-
dren whose mouths are dry from being kept too
hot, eating highly-seasoned or salt food, or from
some hereditary disposition, are especially liable
to be late getting teeth, and there are many living
evidences where none ever appeared.
The greater mischief is done to the whole
nervous system by the unnatural but ancient cus-
tom of pressing and rubbing the gum long before,
or at the time the teeth are making ready to come
through. I believe it possible to trace the cause
of insanity to the pernicious custom of rubbing
the gums of infants. Once commenced, it, like all
applications that arouse the feelings, is looked for
at a certain time, rendering the child a burden
rather than a pleasure to the family circle. It is
strange, but true, that the anxiety of some mothers
to see the much-mooted "critical period" culmi-
nates in a desire to bring it about.
SECTION 11.
THE ORDER IN WHICH THE TEETH COME.
The four cutters may appear in the upper jaw
before the lower ones ; two may come close to-
gether, then the two lower ones. After a while,
the other cutters get through, making eight in all,
— four up and four down. Then comes the canine
94
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
or dog teeth, of which there are four, — two upper
and two lower. About this time the stomach begins
to be more or less affected, according to the sur-
roundings; the child is said to be "cutting its eye-
teeth." Lastly come the grinders, of which there
are eight, — four upper and four lower, — twenty in
all, — and are denominated milk teeth. The fol-
lowing is the order in which they appear : Eight
incisors or cutting teeth; four canine or dog teeth ;
eight molars or grinders.
Many babes keep their mouths firmly shut
against rubbing intruders, and, as if to surprise
one, open the mouth to cry, and display quite
a row of pearly teeth. Healthy, well-developed
children generally have all their first teeth by the
third year. Backward or rachitic children often
have none at that age. I am acquainted with
several apparently robust persons who never had
all of their first teeth, and who are now probably
past the age to get them.
After the first teeth are through, precaution is
necessary to preserve them. They should be
kindly looked after each day, any foreign particles
removed, and the teeth wiped with a wet cloth.
No hot or exceedingly cold, sour, hard, or brittle
substances should be allowed to be bitten on, as
they are easily broken. A snagged-tooth child
looks almost as repulsive as a snagged-tooth man
or woman. If people will let their children go
TEETHING MADE EASY.
95
around, as in midsummer they frequently do, with
bare feet on the cold sidewalk, or with wet feet
from having waded in every accessible puddle of
water, while getting their grinders, they should
not wonder at the great number of deaths under
four years old. For thus many, besides suffer-
ing greatly with pain from teething, take cold,
which may develop in lung fever. Hardly any one
says, " My child died from exposure while teeth-
ing." Nay, but pneumonia sets in, and the teething
has to bear the blame. The primary cause is
overshadowed by the probable secondary cause of
death. If the first teeth are well cared for, all
decaying ones removed in good season, the foun-
dation of a handsome, permanent set will be sure,
there being no constitutional diseases of the teeth
themselves.
Loose, aching teeth are no less annoying to
children than to adults, and it is cruel to force
them to endure the pain when a few cents paid
out to a dentist would remove it at once. Uneven,
overlapped, inverted, projecting, and anomalous
teeth are nearly all occasioned by neglecting to
remove the milk teeth in proper time. Usually
the application of the dental forceps is no more
dreaded than the linen thread.
It is a mistake to suppose that children must
have sore ears, eyes, mouth, nose, head, or some
sickening eruption of the skin while teething. On
96
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
the contrary, it has been clearly proved that too
much heat and uncleanliness are the chief causes
of these repulsive troubles. If sores or pimples
do appear at times, they can with propriety be
washed often with warm water, anointed with cold
cream, till well ; or, if there are bleeding pimples,
sprinkling the parts, after washing each day, with
calcined magnesia and elm flour, in equal quanti-
ties, will soon effect a cure. Babes whose scalps
are well cleaned at birth seldom, if ever, have sore
head. There is not the slightest danger of givins:
the child cold by cleaning it off as fast as possible,
when discovered. I have frequently seen l;ttle
three-year-old ones playing about with not only a
sore patch full of greasy dirt on their scalp, but a
filthy-looking cap, called a tar cap ; in this way
they have been kept till the hair tubes were as
completely destroyed as if the head had been
scalded. It is not very encouraging to know that
the great wisdom which prompts people to do, or
persist in having done, these mischievous things,
is never sufficient to find the remedy for the injury
done. Whenever scurf does form on the head, it
may be removed by applying sweet oil ; should
there be disposition to matter, a wash, made by
boiling burdock root in water, — say half an ounce
to a pint, — applied once or twice a day, is cleans-
ing. To heal a healthy scalp sore, red oak bark,
steeped in water, — sayh alf an ounce to a quart, —
TEETHING MADE EASY.
97
— makes a good wash. Sometimes the cure is
very tedious; but, with due patience, all will be
well.
When children get so that they can nibble, it is
not a good plan to begin putting candies and knick-
knacks in their hands as a play-rule; for this habit
induces, to a certainty, all the unpleasant symp-
toms attendant upon indigestion ; the most marked
of which, in children, is unrest, fretfulness, loss of
eye-sight, loss of teeth, and dwarfed statures. I
take pleasure in recommending the following as a
healthy, desirable kind of biscuit for children :
Take one teacupful each of wheat and Graham or
Indian corn-meal ; one-half cup of brown sugar
or molasses ; half teaspoonful of salt ; mix with
warm milk, knead well, cut into medium size
cracker form, and bake quickly. They are nice,
and should be eaten at regular meal times, dry,
or crumbed in milk-and-water tea. Milk should
never be withheld from children on a pretext of
being feverish.
98
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
CHAPTER XVIII.
COMPLICATIONS OF TEETHING WITH DISEASES.
Diarrhoea is the most common trouble during
the teething period, and is deserving of the most
generous treatment. Should the food seem to dis-
turb the stomach and pass away undigested, or in
pieces, with some degree of sourness, the pulver-
ized magnesia in from three to five -grain doses,
once or twice a day, will correct it ; after which
gum-water, or milk, made like gruel, with' flour,
should be the chief diet till relieved. No fresh
fish or eggs should be allowed in time of diarrhoea.
Should the discharges continue, frequent drinks of
a decoction of blackberry or raspberry leaves, or
what is just as well, the juice of those ripe fruits,
may be given in spoonful-doses. Also the fine
lean corned beef, rolled or pounded fine and fed
slowly in small quantities — say a tabiespoonful
during the day — will frequently arrest the whole
trouble; emptiness, it will be remembered,, being
an exciting cause of diarrhoea as much as overfeed-
ing. There will be emptiness if a continual nib-
bling is allowed, with the smallest chance of ever
getting a substantial meal. Usually, in the diar-
rhoea of teething, there is great thirst, which may
best be abated by giving plentifully of thin, cool
TEETHING DISEASES.
99
gum-arabic water, no sugar. It is this everlasting
sugar sweetening that creates fermentation at such
times. It is the over-indulgence in objectionable
food that causes much of the bowel complaint in
teething, rather than the teething itself. We are
aware that the pain caused by a coming tooth is
annoying, yet this is no reason why children can-
not be kindly prohibited from grasping and tasting
everything they seem to see or cry for. Children
are very sensitive to odors, therefore cooking and
eating should be done as remote from them as pos-
sible. In this matter, however, many of the labor-
ing classes and indigent are deserving of sympathy;
being either from choice, or ill-fortune, huddled to-
gether in close tenements, where each can smell
what the other is cooking. And it is next to im-
possible for them to better the future condition or
prospects of their offspring while continuing to
live so. It may not be unprofitable to insert here
what I have frequently suggested as a sanitary
measure : that is, for families to make ii a rule
not to occupy the last room at the top of the house,
even for storing goods ; as carpets, trunks, hang-
ing garments or curtains, and bedding catch and
retain the odors ascending from below. Smoke,
gases, dusts, breaths of inmates, steam, the odors
arising from old drains, or fever patients, all go to
the top of a building, end if there is no outlet it
must stop there and endanger the health of persons
lOO
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
occupying it. By leaving one room vacant, a
window in it could be continually open and no one
would suffer from bad air. A skylight in the roof
would answer the same purpose, but these are
scarcely ever opened.
WHOOPING-COUGH.
Frequently when whooping-cough intervenes
during the time of teething, the irritation of the
o-ums somewhat abates. Some children have
whooping-cough and diarrhoea for some length of
time, and upon recovery, show quite a number of
teeth. I am not all in favor of encouraging any
increased discharge from the bowels, but some-
times in congestive whooping-cough a little loose-
ness is beneficial. Cholera often sets in j ust as the
teeth have begun to break through the gums. The
treatment, however, should be the same as if not
teething. Great caution should be observed not to
administer drugs containing laudanum ; for by so
doing, air and mucus collect in the air or bronchial
tubes, inducing a stoppage in the breathing.
Possibly suffocation and death have resulted
from this cause in numbers of cases. Whooping-
cough, if gently treated, seldom, if ever, proves
fatal. I have had patients under my charge with it
from four weeks old, upwards. It would, neverthe-
less, be well to keep the tender infant from ex-
posure to whooping-cough for a while. It does
TEETHING DISEASES.
lOI
seem as if sooner or later in life we are to encounter
these peculiar complaints. The main thing to
do to relieve the force of whooping-cough is to
keep the chest and air-tubes warm, and, most of
the time, moist. If there is danger of congestion,
a warm poultice of flaxseed meal spread over the
chest and throat, and keeping clear of dust, smoke,
or smells of any kind, will aid much. By all means
the nose should be kept running, which may be
done by sweating the forehead and nose. Bron-
chitis or wheezing, like whooping-cough", is a dis-
ease that affects the air-tubes in a greater or less
degree, the inflammation sometimes becoming very
distressing. The treatment should be about the
same as for whooping-cough.
PNEUMONIA.
Pneumonia, which is lung fever, frequently sets
in just about the time a child is getting teeth.
• When there is known to be inflammation of the sub-
stances of the lungs, active treatment is called for.
To the nurse, or mother, I will say that the surest
signs of lung troubles are in the manner of breath-
ing. If the nostrils flare at every attempt to take
breath, or in other words, if they open and shut in
quick succession, there is little doubt as to the
presence of lung fever well advanced. Of course,
there is great heat prostration and perceptible
agony from pain, even in the infant of three or four
102
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
weeks. Thousands of babes die annually from this
disease, who have never looked out at a door or
window ; how is it ? Quick breathing may be oc-
casioned by extreme pain, but never flaring of the-
nostrils without some lung pressure. Active
measures to reduce the blood is the proper way to
treat lung fever. The flaxseed meal poultice over
the entire chest, or wrapping the body up in flan-
nel cloths wrung out of hot water, and giving to
drink, plentifully, of cream of tartar and gum arable
water, — one teaspoonful of each dissolved in a pint
of boiling water and a teaspoonful every hour to a
child one month old, and upwards, increasing the
quantity according to age, — all tend to reduce the
fever.
Very young infants are liable to perish in the
acute stage, yet where the constitution is solid, in
older babes there is a chance, with proper, special
treatment, of raising them. Patient watchfulness,
pure air, and absolute quiet, in all such trying af-
flictions, will more than pay for the enduring.
SORE THROAT, OR TONSILITIS.
It is with the deepest regret that I have to say
that, of late, nearly every case of inflamed or sore
throat is termed "diphtheria" — a name which
sends a severely depressing blow to the heart of
many a true, devoted mother. It is a pity that
simple, curable diseases should be given such long.
TEETHING DISEASES. IO3
S
technical names that parents get frightened out of
all common judgment, and give up all hope of suc-
cessful efTorts to save. I frequently hear mothers
say, "I lost my boy just as I had entered him in
school." And rehearsing the causes, they are in-
variably these! — teething, diphtheria, "pneumonia
on the lungs," one or all; "He couldn't live,"
and explicit pains is taken to state that "the
doctor said so." I will simply state here that the
throat is very likely to be affected while getting
the first four grinders, or at the age of from sixteen
to twenty-four months ; and the true condition of
the membranes of the mouth and throat cannot
be guessed at. They should be examined by a
skilled practitioner, that the danger may be modi-
fied in the outset. An ordinary sore throat may
easily be converted into a malignant type by im-
proper treatment ; as in case of the sore throat of
scarlet fever, for instance, the greatest danger
arises from giving hot drinks, or applying some
severe irritant to the membranes of the throat. It
is well in all cases of sore throat to apply cooling
treatment ; this may be done by the foJlowing
means : Wring a cloth out of hot water, wrap it
around the throat, and cover with a dry flannel.
Change every hour or two ; give plentifully of
warm barley-water to drink. Anoint the glands of
the throat and ears once a day with goose or
fish oil (no camphor), aiming to keep the parts
I04
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
soft, thereby scattering the inflammation. The
diet should be nourishing, as of scalded milk,
or, if the bowels are dry, raw milk with oatmeal
pudding. The throat and mouth should be
swabbed out frequently with a weak solution of
bread soda ; also common salt is good to excite the
glands on the back of the tongue, and assist Nature
to carry off the disease. By these, and various
other domestic means, the sequences of scarlatina,
such as dimness of vision, deafness, and glandular
knots, may be avoided. Severe physic should
never be given a child if costive while teething.
There are other methods which, if applied, will be
more lasting in effect; such as wringing a flannel
cloth out of hot water, and covering the bowels ;
giving a pretty warm bath once a day. If injec-
tions are given, great care should be observed not
to injure the soft internal folds of the lower bowel,
but they should never be used if avoidable. Re-
peated but small doses of Epsom salts, dissolved in
warm sweetened water, are invaluable.
WORMS.
Children who are allowed to eat candies, and un-
ripe fruit of all sorts, are liable to be troubled with
worms. Such children are constantly thirsty, and
almost as constantly desiring to go to the water-
closet. Young children that are fed on pure milk
rarely have pin or stomach-worms; but the irreg-
GENERAL REMARKS.
ular slop-feeding of children gives great chance for
their development. In nearly all cases where they
are known to exist, a few grains of salt given in
water early in the morning will drive them down-
ward. Then three grains each of calcined mag-
nesia and pulverized rhubarb, mixed in cold milk
just moist enough to be drunk, should be given at
bed- time. This continued for about one week,
with solid food at regular hours, will drive them
out of the system. If pin -worms appear in the
back passage, the injections of salt water twice a
week, and giving a teaspoonful of salt water tc
drink every morning,' will generally give relief.
CHAPTER XIX.
GENERAL REMARKS.
We have, no doubt, learned, through the his-
tories of the past, that war, or any civil commotion,
naturally interrupts the moral and physical condi-
tion of the people in whose midst it is carried on..
Not far from a quarter of a century has elapsed
since the close of our civil war, and really the
moral and physical condition of some of the people,
the more remote from the scenes of those terrible
deprivations and conflicts, are just beginning to
develop the worst consequences.
io6
^, MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
It is my serious opinion that thousands of chil-
dren die annually in the city of Boston, under five
years of age, from diseases brought on through the
excitement of expecting to go to school, the early
change, the exposures from actual compulsory at-
tendance, while the system has barely recovered
from a lengthy prostration, and now needing fos-
tering at home with regular meals and plenty of
to3^s for amusement.
Many are the little children of three and a half,
four and a half, and five years, that are still getting
teeth, sent out in the streets to saunter along in
the chill air of our hill-streets to some school-house.
Heaven bless our schools, for they are invaluable ;
but may God change the minds of the people as to
such early exposures, being best for the credit of
our Commonwealth. In school at four and a half,
and in the grave at five; or in school at five, and
in some State Reform School at seven or eight!
just when the mind is beginning to be formed. It
is well known that diphtheria, pneumonia, and
various contagious diseases are more prevalent
where there has been some exciting cause. For
instance, during the warm days at the breaking up
of winter, when the snow is melting and the at-
mosphere is filled with vapors, one can see children
of all ages wading about in running water, drag-
ging sleds, moving snow ; some heavily-clad feet
well protected, while others are not supplied even
GENERAL REMARKS.
107
with wraps, but with rubber boots, it may be,
minus the toes. In a few days many deaths of
this very class of children are reported in some
locality or other. Children will sit or stand around
in places injurious to the health, and will go into
dangers where they seem really to be admired by
some adults. In the hurry and excitement to go
in the street, so much is lost of a chance to build a
solid foundation either of health or character. I
know it is hard to restrain little ones after they
have tasted of so much freedom as is given them
during the weakest period of childhood, the teeth-
ing period. This is why I feel so anxious to do or
say something that will assist parents to lighten
their burdens in this matter. In the first place,
let me advise, with all due feelings of respect, the
entire abandonment of low, dark, bad-smelling,
water-soaked basement kitchens to work in, and
the adoption of a rule to live more on top of the
ground, and less under the ground. The depres-
sion upon the system of any one who has been per-
mitted to exercise in open daylight, is equal to that
of being incarcerated. Some persons say they send
children to school to get them out of the way; a
child soon begins to know this, and gradually goes
out of the way, until some aching tooth or biting
pain sends him crying to his friend.
If rooms are occupied all on the same floor, it is
much better for the health and comfort of all.
io8
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
Windows can be dropped from the top ; or a swing-
ing pane, set in the top of a sash, is a very good
way to ventilate or let in fresh air. So few people
that depend on their bodily strength from day to
day, stop to think that pure air is the all-essential
element, and that without light, air, and sun in
their dwellings, the poisonous gases cannot leave
them, but they must sooner or later succumb to
them Children need a great amount of rest while
growing. Yet few children are ever permitted to
lay down during the day after entering the primary
school. "Oh," said a mother, " children rest sit-
ting in school." The probabilities are, that those
little nerves are all on a stretch for the first six
months (if they last that long). And they never
rest except the meals are regular, the mind made
happy, and the sleep quiet and sweet. Not only
so ; the nervous system of children is, in many
instances, run down before entering school at all.
Thus, through a desire to humor or cater to its
seeming wants, a child is permitted to toddle about
on foot, aided by some excitement, all day long,
eat whatever it should not, fret and fume till it is
literally outdone. This might be avoided by the
exercise of a little early home rule, which could be
the better understood by the time the child is old
enough to enter a public school. If there are a
dozen children in one family, each one should be
supplied with a chair, according to its age ; so that
GENERAL REMARKS.
109
when the word is given to sit down, it may be
understood a%3 obeyed. If children can conform
to rules of order for strangers, they certainly will
for their dear parents and guardians. Would it
not be well for mothers and friends to withhold
some of their indulgences from children who are
entirely too young to appreciate their endearing
acts, and bestow them more lavishly when the
possibilities of experience will insure a reward ?
Would not a little more kind persuasion bring sun-
shine into the family circle ? Would it not pay for
every laboring man of a family to reserve an empty
room at the top of the house for a play-room for
his children ? There is not the least doubt but
that every mother would be made to rejoice from
the advantage; if not at the top of the house, on
the same floor with the sitting-room.
There is nothing particularly commendable in
the habit of permitting cats and dogs to be closely
imprisoned with children, as little ones are prone to
put their mouths to everything ; thus, there is a
probability of worms making from the hair of such
animals when swallowed. By the close observance
of the different traits of mankind, I have been led to
believe that true philanthropy is ingrafted into the
human heart only through Divine agency. So that
if belief in God and His attributes is entertained
by each, no sacrifice will be considered too great
for the sake of relieving the helpless ones within
no
MEDICAL DISCOURSES,
the family circle. Philanthropy cannot dwell in
the heart of an eye servant, it must j#e inborn and
unbiased in applications relative to human happi-
ness. Too often, it happens that mothers give up
all hope just at the weakest period in a child's life,
willing, on the slighest pretext, to abandon the off-
spring of their body. Words are not adequate to.
portray the lasting miseries that, in consequence,;
daily encircle the minds and bodies of the youth
of our land. With many parents, the beginning
to raise a family is novel and pleasing, but at the
very time the most particular care is required,
patience and watchfulness flag, so that it is no
uncommon thing to hear mothers, in particular,
declare their inability to rule and rear their own
children. Would it not be well for mothers to
make a little sacrifice for the sake of equipping
the mind, that they may be able to dispense the
required rudiments of moral and intellectual educa-
tion at home, till a child is at least seven years
old? Let mothers awake to duty; let them seek
to know the causes of so many bleeding hearts and
weeping eyes, and learn to compare effect with
means, and means with ends; then the pall that is
ever ready to obscure their sky of cheer, will rap-
idly disappear. We find, when comparing the
statistical reports of the death-rates of children
under one year old, that they are largest in those
cities where the influx of immigration is constant,
GENERAL REMARKS.
in
and the women, either from choice or necessity,
are so engaged in other pursuits, that they do not
take care of their young. Also that the death-rate
of children under six years old, is greater in those
cities where early home discipline is thwarted and
early school privileges are the rule. But a few
months ago, a gentleman informed me that he had
lost his only daughter. " What caused her death ? "
I inquired. "The doctor said she studied too
hard ; she was taken with a hemorrhage, and died
in a short time." " Was she old enough to go to
school?" I asked. "Oh, yes," was the answer.
" She was five years and a half." I knew the
child was delicate from birth, but, notwithstanding,
her mother had taught her the alphabet at home.
No wonder, the doctor said she "studied too hard."
The "mind your own business" policy goes
down too well with some women, for when the
doctor pronounces the sickness of their babe a
hopeless case, they seem at once to give up all
hope, they have no alternative, they are mute, and
will not so much as direct a petition to Almighty
God, the great Physician for relief. Would it not
strengthen the advocacy of equal suffrage in a pop-
ulation of over three hundred and sixty thousand,
if every woman would cultivate a desire to know
more about the prevention of disease and the pre-
servation of health?
Diminutive, sickly, half- dependent people, care
112
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
little what party governs, so long as they, them-
selves, barely exist. By real, earnest, devoted
measures, women may be enabled, within the next
decade, to exercise the right of franchise, and fill
positions of honor outside of the domestic circle.
But the v/omen that compose the domestic circle
have been, are, and ever will be in the majority;
these are the women that have the greatest work
of reform before them, namely, that of nourishing
in infancy, ruling in childhood, and persuading in
youth, the children of their fireside, that their sons
may not graduate from the highest school of State
penitentiaries, nor the bright future of their
daughters be blasted by reason of early abandon-
ment to the mercy of State charities. Parents
should hold on to their children, and children
should stand by their parents until the last strand
of the silken cord is broken. It is natural to the
childhood days to sport and play. All cannot
bear the early and long-continued expectations
through adverse circumstances and frequent un-
pleasantness of a finale. The vexations of youth
from these causes, often serve, no doubt, to embit-
ter the mind against further progress. We need
in every community educated men, it is true, but
the foundation dependence is in healthy, moral
men and women.
Children should not be asked if they like such
and such things to eat, with the privilege of choos-
GENERAL REMARKS.
ing that which will give no nourishment to the
blood. You may as well ask a child if the new
shoes hurt the feet, if it is advanced enough to
know that the old ones must be continued till the
new ones are changed. Too much is expected of
little children for their own good. All of the
bones of our bodies, when broken, will unite again ;
but if the enamel of the teeth gets cracked or
broken off, they soon decay, and -will be destroyed
if not cared for by the means of art. From the
age of seven months to twenty years, man is being
supplied with those thirty -two pearly bones with
which to prepare the food for entrance into the
stomach, that it may be converted into milk, from
which blood, the life principle, is derived each day.
Headache and toothache, one or both, render
the school days of many a youth burdensome.
This, too, may be caused as much from cold feet,
indigestion, and constipation, as from either ar-
duous studies or decaying teeth. Some parents
would stand in amaze if their sons or daughters
were discovered perusing some work upon the
anatomy and the preservation of the human
teeth in youth ; while the same parents would
boast of the almost frenzied determination of their
children to read every available love-novel ; that,
too, while the new teeth are daily pushing against
decaying ones. The study of the science of Den-
tistry is wise and commendable to all.
114
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
Pauperism, like familiarity, "breeds contempt";
therefore persons should try with all their mind
and might to avoid its conditions. Is it too much
for me to say that the excuse for a mother's con-
signing her child to some almshouse, while she
goes free, can be but shallow ? Unfortunately, the
"I can't" finds many prompters, and gains the
precedence in many instances, where renewed and
determined resolution only is required to succeed
in caring for the helpless, and governing the pas-
sions of the youth, until they are old enough to hire
out, or be put to some trade. To labor is hon-
orable. Mothers, before you forget the tie which
binds you to your child, and deliberately consign
it to the care of strangers, look into those dear little
eyes. Remember, few ever return, or are restored,
as was Joseph of old.
Cast me not off, dear mother,
Oh, cast me not off, is my plea,
I have ears with which to catch the sounds
Of rejoicing or murmur from thee.
I've a look that ne'er has been given,
Whicli can only be given to thee ;
I've a word that has never been spoken.
But yet can be spoken so free.
Yes, a token of gratitude ever
Shall dwell on my lips for thee ;
I've a tear that has never yet glistened,
That some day may trickle for thee.
In the bleak and changeable climate of Massa-
GENERAL REMARKS.
chusetts, in the city and vicinity of Boston, for
instance, there reside many families whose ances-
tors were born in a more genial clime. Therefore,
it is not natural that they, themselves, should be
able to endure exposures to hard fare, even had
they been early accustomed to it in a warm, native
clime.
Our women work hard, seemingly, and many of
them against a heavy tide ; nor does there ever
seem to be an end to their toils. Especially do
some of the laboring women of my race appear to
work under heavy disadvantages ; if the family is
small, they are never through with their work; if it
is large, there is a double excuse for having no
time to rest ; yet many real needful things are left
undone. I have often wondered if such house-
keepers, whose own affairs are neglected, and in
whose homes things go to waste, while they take
so much upon them of other people's work, never
thought of the story of " filling a hogshead at the
spigot that had no stopper at the bung."
So with our men who labor hard ; they are
anxious to keep the wolf from the door, and they
thoughtlessly rise in the morning, go to work, per-
haps, without breakfast, working for hours in a
condition for odors, contagious or otherwise, to
affect the system. Thus the liabilities to colds in
the vital organs, which may go on for years, gradu-
ally undermining the general health, or may, as
ii6
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
frequently happens, develop in lung fever, and
consequent shattered constitution. The laboring
men of my race, generally speaking, take much
better care of the horses intrusted to their care
than they do of their own health. Were men just
as particular about what they themselves eat and
drink, and how they dress and sleep, the deaths of
young men of thirty and forty years would not be
so common. Those who are not careful of their
health die early in this climate, and their offspring
die earlier.
It is not the blood we wish to keep hot, as some
desire to do; this induces disease and premature
decay. It is the body that needs to be kept warm
while the blood is normal, or rather cool. This is
just as easily done with man as with the horse.
Frequent baths, wearing all-wool flannels next
the skin in winter, changing for thinner ones in
hot weather, eating coarse dry food, taking less
medicine, desisting from the use of tobacco and
"firewater," — all tend to lengthen the days of
mankind on this beautiful earth. It is authoritatively
stated that the colored population decreases in
Boston, but it is not all the fault of the climate;
for there have been native Africans who lived to a
great age here. It is the neglect, in a great
measure, to guard against the' changes of the
weather.
By seeking to get in possession of the comforts
GENERAL REMARKS.
117
of life, and buying a little home, our men can yet
be enabled to live, and raise up children who shall
be an honor to that noble race with which we are
identified, in point of strength and longevity.
The Lord gave the qualities, it is for us to preserve
and improve them for His final acceptance. Our
Heavenly Father has provided a healing balm for
every disease that man is liable to, and I am pre-
pared to say that all diseases can be cured without
the use of alcoholic stimulants. We have access
to a large and varied field of remedies, both in the
vegetable and mineral kingdoms, the virtues of
which unfold to man in proportion to his posses-
sion of heavenly virtues.
Let me, in conclusion, appeal once more to the
united efforts of mothers and fathers. Do not try
to be blind when you are not. Can you not cut
short the certain destruction that awaits your sons
and daughters, through the influence of impres-
sions gained by the constant perusal of fictitious,
and, in many cases, corrupt library books ? Will it
not pay to prohibit those under age, or at least
under fourteen, from reading even Sunday-School
story -papers ? We are aware many of them are
given for the moral to be derived, but not more
than one boy or girl in a hundred ever cares a fig
for the moral.
Does any one believe that the majority of the
little children who witness the farce of " Punch and
ii8
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
Judy" on Boston Common every summer, gain a
moral, or feel that it is wrong to imitate beating a
wife, killing a baby, or hanging a black man ? The
popular adage, "No nigger, no fun," is why such
schools are tolerated on our Public Parks. Are
they not a curse to our land ? May not such
shameful scenes prove to be the primary lessons
in pugilism, murder, and suicide? Possibly they
best serve to prolong the barbarous system of flog-
ging, whether it be by lashing to a post and apply-
ing the cat-o'-nine-tails, or otherwise. Then will it
not pay to endeavor to cultivate inborn morals
early in life, thereby shutting out a desire for vul-
gar and debasing sports ? — ■
Volumes might be written in which could be in-
serted plans, which, if enforced, could not fail to
prevent the adversities of life, the gloomy fore-
shadowings and prolonged deficiencies in health.
Some do not wish to know about the human
system, others cannot read, and more have no
time to read, or think how to live and be happy ;
seeming to forget that our Heavenly Parent gave
the earth, with all it contains, for man's inher-
itance. Many such are laboring day and night, and
trying to educate their children, yet do not always
turn the abilities of their children to good account.
Books on the laws of health from the proper source
could never injure the mind and morals ; but would,
if read aloud in the family circle half as often as
GENERAL REMARKS.
trashy novels are thumbed over, prove a blessing
more lasting than gold. Let us strive to know
more about ourselves, — it is human, it is Christian-
like to do so. Then will there be minds from
which to select students for the college, that may-
come forth to the community graduates in Phar-
macy, Surgery, Dentistry and Medicine. It is well
known that many noble - minded women have
graced the chambers of the sick with good service,
in different conditions of need, too; but at the
present, women appear to shrink from any respon-
sibilities demanding patience and sacrifice, or
rather seem not to rely on the union of their
strength with that of our great Creator, in time of
need.
What we need to day in every community, is,
not a shrinking or flagging of womanly usefulness
in this field of labor, but renewed and courageous
readiness to do when and wherever duty calls.
I20
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
PART SECOND.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
All the objects in the material world are di-
vided into organic and inorganic. The principle
of life is always associated with organic bodies,
examples of which are animals and plants. Quite
a number of inorganic substances go to make up
the human body, — to wit: Water, air, lime,
magnesia, iron, potassium, sulphur, sodium, phos-
phorous, and many more.
HUMAN LIFE.
Through the aid of scientific researches, we are
informed that the development of a being begins
with a soft jelly-like substance. Later, the parts
intended for bone, become cartilage or gristle, pro-
gressing with more or less uniformity from a few
hours after conception, till about the seventh
month of pregnancy.
Anatomists nearly agree in stating that not
more than six of the bones are ossified at birth,
the greater number being finished at different peri-
ods of childhood. The lower portion of the verte-
brae or backbone is not usually completed until
after the twenty-first year of adult life. The bony
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 121
framework of the adult man or woman is com-
posed of about 246 bones, including the teeth. These
are covered by about twice that number of muscles
or fleshy supports. The muscles, cords and liga-
ments, which serve as so many bands for the sup-
port and protection of the body, are generally
much larger and firmer in men than in women.
The custom of suspending wearing apparel from
the shoulders, conforms to the laws of nature ; as
those muscles are so arranged as to admit of con-
siderable pressure without injury. Pressure upon
the soft parts, as tying many bands around the
waist, or tight lacing, is apt to cramp the internal
organs of digestion, and crowd them out of their
natural position, thereby inducing headache, or
other unpleasant feelings.
WOMANHOOD
Begins with the appearance of the monthly sickness,
at which times all undue exercise of the body
should be avoided. Disobedience to the rules of
decorum and the laws of health at such times, may
induce ovarian inflammation, dropsy, consumption,
and even barrenness.
It is a great mistake to administer brandy, gin,
or any alcoholic or narcotic stimulant to girls for
the relief of pain, when the periods are coming on.
Opiates may destroy the functions, while alcoholic
drugs can only relieve by blunting the sense of
122
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
feeling, through the deceptive influence of intoxi-
cation.
Hot water foments, applied perseveringly, will
bring more certain and permanent relief.
Menstruation begins much earlier in some girls
than in others, yet is natural from the nth to the
1 8th year, depending upon the state of the health,
also, climate.
MORAL RESTRAINTS.
An enema should never be given to infants in
the presence of older children Little girls have
been lacerated, and thus injured for life, through
accidents growing out of imitating mother, or
"playing sick," and giving injections. A young
girl should be subject to the advice and protection
of her mother or guardian, till sufficiently able to
care for herself. Poverty, with chastity, is an en-
viable condition.
INTERNAL ORGANS OF WOMAN.
The internal organs consists of the heart, lungs,
liver, stomach, spleen, kidneys, bladder, intestines,
or guts ; the uterus, or womb, and ovaries, or
per ore
The heart is in the centre of the breast, point-
ing toward the left nipple ; the lungs are on each
side ; the stomach lies below the true ribs, in
the left side; the liver, with the gall-bladder at-
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
123
tached, is situated below the true ribs, on the
right side, reaching across toward the left side.
The spleen, a spongy melt-like viscus, is at-
tached to the stomach and liver somewhat, but
situated under the left side of the stomach ; the
kidneys are situated on each side of the spine or
backbone, just above the waist; the bladder, into
which the urine drops, is situated in front, just
below the umbilicus, or navel ; the uterus, or
womb, is situated just behind the bladder; the
ovaries are situated on each side, and a little
behind the womb. Their office appears to be
to secrete the menstrual flow, and also to sup-
ply whatever is needful in the formation of a new
being. The womb is to receive and protect the
impregnated germ, together with the vessels
through which it is nourished from the mother, till
the ninth month, or time of labor, at which time
it is dangerous to drink stimulants unless directed
by a physician.
The large intestine arises on the right side of
the abdomen, extends up and across in front, just
above the navel, then descends, terminating in the
rectum, or straight outlet, just behind the womb.
In case of dry colic in men and the aged, rubbing
with the hand, and steaming with hot cloths over
the right side and down the spine, will sometimes
induce an operation of the bowels when other
means have failed.
124
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
Blood, in all animals, is the life fluid ; in man it
is obtained through the mastication and digestion
of his daily food and pure air. The blood is con-
sidered to be pure when we feel well, that is, can
eat with pleasure, pursue vocations of livelihood,
and enjoy refreshing sleep, but impure when
the reverse. Physic can act beneficial only by
hunting out and removing the obstructions to a
natural flow of the digestive juices ; but it does
not, nor cannot purify blood. Blood medicines is
a name used in reference to those which are em-
ployed to supply a principle wanting in the blood,
but they do not make blood. Therefore, blood is
supplied, and can be maintained without the in-
tervention of art. There is scarcely a principle
natural to the blood, but that can be obtained from
something upon which we daily subsist.
A person may have pure blood, and yet suffer
from obstruction in its circulation.
INFLAMMATION OF THE OVARIES.
The ovaries are liable to affections from cold;
the most frequent of which is acute or dumb
aching pains, accompanied with great heat,
depression of spirits, and thirst. It often seizes
one while sweeping, or otherwise exercising. It
not unfrequently comes on while asleep in bed,
having the character of cramp, particularly after
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
having wet or cold feet, as it is through the feet
such sensations travel rapidly to those organs.
Treatment. — A pad made of hops or any sooth-
ing herbs, wet in hot vinegar, and laid over the
lower part of the bowels and over the kidneys.
Internally, one and a half teaspoonfuls of Epsom
salts, and one-eighth as much of pulverized cin-
namon, dissolved in a little warm sweetened water,
observing absolute quiet, will, in most cases, give
speedy relief. Opiate treatment should always be
left to the discretion of a physician. It is the col-
lections from repeated attacks of ovarian inflam-
mation that give rise to tumors. They, too, can
be cured if taken in time, but it requires total
abstinence from all kinds of fish or stimulating
food, or drinks, and very regular bowels.
RHEUMATISM.
Rheumatism, or nerve pain, of which there are
several characters, is nevertheless caused by
taking cold, in some certain condition of the sys-
tem, at almost any time of life. Persons who get
in cold or damp beds, or sleep in cold, ill-ventilated
rooms without night-clothes, or otherwise neglect
to comfortably prepare the body for the mainte-
nance of pure blood, are mostly liable to rheumatism
in some form. It may last for a few days only,
then again, it may remain in the system for years.
It frequently attacks one part of the body and
126
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
goes off, leaving a lasting depression, remote from
the seat of the attack. Ofttimes it affects the
nerves that control the organs of voice and speech ;
more especially in those persons who use tobacco
and " toddy."
Treatment. — In nearly all cases, in full habits,
having been exposed to great heat, alternating
with cold, purging, sweating and extreme quiet,
will relieve. Anointing the parts with warm
goose-oil, or boiled olive-oil, is highly serviceable.
In cases of long standing, with poor blood, the op-
posite treatment is indicated, i e., food or medi-
cines that create warmth, and supply principles
wanting in the blood; such, for instance, as beef-
juice, rare-done beef-steak, lamb chop, corn bread,
pure wheat bread, milk, and stewed fruits.
Articular rheumatism, or that affecting the
joints, long after the acute or first attack, can gen-
erally be cured by feeding the joints, as it were,
from without. Ligaments and joints are not
quickly affected by what enters the circulation, but
very much can be gained by wrapping the joints
with bandage, wet in some stimulating sedative of
which hot water takes first rank, pulverized
opium and water next. Dissolve ten grains in as
much hot water as it will require to wet the band-
ages, apply and cover with a dry flannel. Lini-
ments should be used with caution, as they tend
to close up the pores of the skin.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
127
Very much may be gained by taking a hot salt
bath twice a week, not necessarily going to the
sea-side. In all cases of rheumatism, with feel-
ings of languor or loss of appetite, a tea of seneca
snake root and valerian is advisable, and may be
drank at pleasure, cold. Also, a cold infusion of
hoarhound and hops, made sweet with maple sugar,
is good, if continued for quite a while. Dose — a
pint during the day.
SOFT BONES.
Soft bones, or a tendency to crooked limbs, in
many families, may arise from a taint of ill-humors,
or rachitis in the parents, or even grandparents ;
likewise, weak joints. The preventive means are,
not to keep the infant too hot, or closely bound,
while asleep. Children born free from any imper-
fection may develop distorted, if allowed to creep
around or sit on a cold or damp floor, be tossed
into a bed between cold sheets, when the nerves
are excited and the blood is warm. It would re-
quire but little outlay to provide close flannel
drawers for children to creep around in ; besides, the
nation would be blessed, in the future, with men
and women possessing firm muscles, with well-fed
marrow in their bones.
Treatment. — Wholesome food, frequent warm
salt baths, comfortable clothing, sufficient sleep,
and that in a comfortable place.
128
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
HEADACHE,
SO frequently complained of by both sexes, gener-
ally denotes some irregularity, either in the man-
ner of eating or sleeping. For instance, strong
tea is binding in nature, but there are persons who
" must have it," yet, nevertheless, are usually
constipated or nervous. Eating a lunch just be-
fore retiring will mostly insure headache, as will,
also, over-taxation of the mind or body.
HEMORRHOIDS.
Hemorrhoids, or Piles, may be brought on by
whatever irritates the folds of the rectum or back
passage ; as sudden cold, frequent attempts at
stool with dry bowels ; frequent and severe phys-
icking, or the passage of fecal matter rendered acrid
by the indulgence in highly-seasoned food, alco-
holic drinks, or late suppers.
Cure. — Abstinence from heating food or med-
icines, bathing the lower portion of the spine with
warm water, applying simple goose -oil, or the
simplest ointment, whether the sores extend to the
opening or not. The patient should take, as a
cooling potion, a teaspoonfut of Epsom salts in
warm water, two or three times a week. Nothing
reduces the blood in the parts more speedily ; and
there is not the least danger, as is erroneously sup-
posed by many, of taking cold by its use. There
is a thousand times more danger in numerous
MISCELLANEOUS INFORATATION.
129
Other drugs and potions given under the cover of
a great name, to cure the piles.
It is an error to suppose that certain remedies
are only serviceable at certain times and in certain
places, at certain times of the year. Every means
possible should be put forth to reduce the piles
before submitting to an operation ; a thing that is
seldom needed, but nevertheless is frequently done.
LEUCORRHCEA, OR WHITES.
This is a very common complaint among women
of all ages and conditions of life ; but not more so,
probably, than seminal weakness in men, — a similar
complaint, by the way. It frequently comes from
taking cold, after fatigue, which may run its course
with some degree of fever, languor and chill; dur-
ing which time ulcers may form on the membranes
of the vagina, or entrance to the womb. These
ulcers may remain quite a while, and cause a con-
tinuance of the discharge, or they may come off,
and leave weak patches, even in virgins. This
complaint is not contagious, but if allowed to re-
main about the parts, may become offensive and
excoriating. It requires much the same treatment
as catarrh ; hence frequently receives the name,
catarrh of the womb. It may come from getting
up too soon after confinement.
T reatment. — If ulcers are known to have formed,
they should be removed in the surest manner, that
I30
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
the introduction of the speculum may be dispensed
with as soon as possible. After their removal in
that way, the cure can be accomplished sooner,
but ulcers can be removed without the introduc-
tion of the speculum in very small wom.en. If the
evidence is conclusive that ulcers have formed, the
remedy for their removal can be applied with less
pain and displeasure with the vaginal syringe. No
astringent washes, such as alum, oak, bark, or lead,
are in place while fleers remain. When there is
no unhealthy discharge from the vagina, there can
be no need of using a syringe. Salt sea or home
baths, nourishing food and rest; applying a wet
bandage, warm, during the hours of rest, and keep-
ing the bowels free without the use of severe
physic ; avoiding laborious work for a while, will
give great relief.
The constant use of preparations of iron is bind-
ing; and while, at the same time, they may tone up
the muscular fibre, they may but invite a renewal
of the discharges, by reason of pressure upon the
vaginal walls from the loaded rectum. It is a
complaint which may at any time give rise to evil
imaginations, therefore should be cured as soon as
possible. It has been thought, that using the
treadle sewing-machines has increased the liabil-
ities to leucorrhoea; but I have yet to conclude
whether it is from the use of the machines or the
manner in which they are used by most women.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION, 131
In the first place, the operator sits too far from
the machine, thereby causing a motion of the
whole body, while she leans too much forward;
secondly, operates too fast; thirdly, works too
long at a time; fourthly, allows herself but little
time to eat or sleep. And, what is more than all,
frequently gets angry with the machine, unstrings
it, and gets it in as bad condition as she has her
own nerves.
I would suggest, that weakly women use a sew-
ing machine that is turned by hand. Whatever
causes a discharge, should be speedily removed, as
the first means of cure.
FALLING OF THE WOMB.
Numbers of women persist in saying their womb
is down; I must admit that there arc many who
suffer from a partial prolapsus, or protrusion of the
mouth of the womb ; the causes of which are usually
traceable to hasty deliveries, miscarriages, over-
lifting, pressure from a distended bladder, or con-
stipated bowels. But the most frequent cause of a
bearing down or a dragging sensation, is from weak-
ness of the whole muscular system. The walls of
the canal that leads to the womb, partakes largely
of this weakness, which of course is increased by
the retention of urine or fecal accumulations in
the lower bowels.
There are a variety of uterine difficulties that
132 MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
afflict women of all classes and conditions of life.
Yet it is somewhat encouraging to know that the
cure of each is possible when rightly understood.
Treatment. — If the bowels are kept free by tak-
ing a teaspoonful of Epsom salts, dissolved in
warm water, about three times a week, bathing
frequently, and absolute rest observed, relief will
be certain.
A pessary or ring should never be worn if avoid-
able. There are other means to resort to less un-
pleasant and more certain to give permanent relief.
All misplacements of the womb should be rectified
at once.
CHANGE OF LIFE.
The appearance of the menses in girls, denotes
the beginning of womanhood ; but the irregulari-
ties which the periods sometimes exhibit from the
ages of 35 to 50, have given rise to the term
" change of life."
Women are considered to be in their prime at
from 25 to 45, and if careful of habit, may escape
any perceptible irregularity save but a few
months before the entire cessation, or till after the
fiftieth year of their age.
What is needful for a pleasant and healthy ces-
sation of the turns, is a more strict observance of
the rules of self-preservation. In some cases,
where the menses appear early, they leave early.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
Climate and the state of the mind, and general
health, very often influences the periodical flow ;
the mere change of residence for a few hundred
miles, causing them to vary or disappear entirely,
even in young girls. It is a great mistake for
young women, thus affected, to seek a doctor or
doctress who is considered an expert in " bringing
the turns on again." Probably any amount of
mischief has been done by neglecting to cultivate
patience in this matter.
In the decline of life, the cares become burden-
some, and the system is in a more irritable condi-
tion, therefore liable to cold. The ovaries some-
times become enlarged, causing the abdomen to
bloat, and sometimes present the appearance of
dropsy, or tumor; or a general enlargement may
take place. There may be periodical flooding of
bright or dark, even black blood, and large pieces
of clot may cause great pain for days, then pass
away unattended by any serious change in the
general health.
Very many women begin to notice the change
by feelings of suffocaticn, flashes as of hot steam,
alternating with a slight chilly feeling. If at any
time perspiration is free, it should be encouraged
rather than suppressed. It is better to endure the
hot feelings and save the lungs, than to expose
them by inhaling cold air through the tubes, or
driving the perspiration in on to them. Fanning,
134
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
rushing into cold air, drinking ice-water, all tends
to throw the danger internally, inducing paralysis.
When the feeling of suffocation comes on, it is de-
cidedly best to sit quiet. When there is much
fluttering of the heart, it is a good plan to take
one or two swallows of cool water, just as it is
coming on ; this sometimes has the effect to retard
it for weeks.
Treatment — Avoid over-heated rooms or excit-
ing scenes; keep the bowels free without severe
physic. Use coarse plain food, drink very little of
fluids, avoid spices, stimulants, and secure cheerful
exercise for the mind, with an abundance of out-
door scenery; cultivate a love for the gifts of our
Heavenly Father, seek to do good for those who
are worse off than yourself, and all will come out
right.
After the turns have ceased altogether, a woman
may live to a good old age, and fill many hours of
usefulness to her sex.
Should the beats of the heart interrupt sleep very
much, it is a good plan to drink about a half-pint of
hop tea, sweetened with brown or maple sugar,
at bed-time.
If the heart beats full and heavy, three grains of
Bromide of Potassium should be dissolved in cinna-
mon water, and drunk at noon and night, for a
week at the time, then left off to watch the result ;
and continued, if needful. When there is great
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION,
heat of the skin without perspiration, a little
mustard should be added to the daily baths for a
while. Much depends upon keeping the blood in
a normal state at such times, and if the luxuries of
life are indulged in, the tendency is to fire the
blood, so to speak.
Meats, and sweets, or pastries, induce thirst,
simply by their chemical combination with the
juices of the stomach; and the more water is
drunk to quench the thirst, the longer will the dis-
tress continue.
It is not at all improbable that the frequent
sudden deaths of women about the age of 36, is
owing to taking cold through some imprudence,
at this time. Great care should be taken not to
have the beatings of the heart stopped too sud-
denly.
All women are not affected alike; many never
experience any heart trouble, whilst a great num-
ber are subject to it from early maiden life. If
there is much wind in the bowels, it is a good plan
to take about five grains of pulverized magnesia
and three of pulverized cinnamon, in a little sugar
and water, every morning; it gives a gentle opera-
tion, and may be repeated at will.
Irregularities of the menses, like the event of
pregnancy, very frequently occasions cramp in the
stomach, for which many women boast of drinking
gin, or some equally volatile stimulant; this should
136
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
never be done. Putting on cloths wrung out of
hot water, and sipping hot water with a little
mustard in it, will soon relieve. In case of preg-
nancy, the cramps mostly cease with delivery,
CATARRH COLD IN THE HEAD.
Catarrh is caused by exposure of the face and
glands of the neck to sudden draught, while the
blood is quite warm. The mucus that drops from
the internal membranes of the head becomes dry,
accumulates in flakes, pieces of which gradually
drop down on the soft palate and organs of the
voice, thus obstructing the air-passages. If it is
permitted to go on, it is apt to cause inflammation
of the bronchial tubes.
Northeast, and easterly winds, favor its develop-
ment much, but, with timely aid, it may be cured.
BRONCHITIS, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE AIR-TUBES
WHICH LEAD TO THE LUNGS.
Treatment. — In all cases of catarrh or bronchitis,
means should be used to soften the glands and
muscles of the neck. Warm steam should be ap-
plied to the nostrils and inhaled into the lungs.
Medicines taken into the stomach, cannot reach
the difficulty. Much may be gained by snuffing a
little warm salt water up through the nostrils.
When there is great distress from mucus in the
air-tubes, about three grains of pulverized ipecac.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 13/
should be added to about a gill of hot water, and
the steam inhaled into the lungs. All inhalants
should be boiling hot, and used repeatedly for an
hour or more. Inhaling cold air after sitting in a
close atmosphere, will induce an attack of bronchial
inflammation, or thickening of the air-tubes, in per-
sons of all classes and conditions. Persons who
are liable to frequent attacks of bronchitis, are apt
to imagine that their lungs are affected, since it
prev^ents a free use of the voice in singing or
speaking audibly. I will repeat that this com-
plaint generally terminates with a loss of tone in
the lung substance, caused by the failure of the
tubes to supply them with oxygen or air ; not-
withstanding, one may live on for years with it.
Sudden changes of air, food or medicines that con-
tract or depress muscular or nervous vitality, may
cause suffocation and death at any moment.
When there is much cough present in chronic
cases, inhalations of tar, pine bark, or roasted coffee,
are beneficial. I never derived any benefit from
the use of preparations containing camphor, in the
treatment of diseases of the air passages ; but have
always succeeded with remedies that moisten,
soothe, and warm.
BURNS AND SCALDS.
For ordinary burns or scalds, cover the parts
well with molasses, and give some internally. If
138
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
blisters have not formed, this will prevent them ;
and if they have formed, the water should be let
out, and the molasses well applied. It will keep
out the air most effectually, and draw out the fire
in a short time. Also, chilblains, skin or scalp
sores, either on infants or adults. Corns, tetter,
etc., may be cured by covering the parts at night
with molasses, and washing it off in the morning
with a weak solution of borax. In scalp sores of
infants a little sweet oil should be added to the
molasses.
CORNS, OR CALLOUS.
Corns, or callous, whether on the feet of children
or adults, come from wearing shoes that are too
short and too wide, or otherwise ill suited, the
friction of which, when walking, creates festers,
the matter of which dries and becomes a corn.
Treatment. — Remove the cause, keep the feet
clean, and comfortably clad.
SORE THROAT.
This term is generally applied to all forms of
throat troubles ; but the most frequent cause of
difficulty in swallowing comes from cold attended
with swelling, and some degree of inflammation of
the tonsils, hence tonsilitis. The palate, or cur-
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 1 39
tain like arrangement over tlie root of the tongue,
usually partakes of the irritation. The uvula
swells, or becomes inflamed, and rests on the root
of the tongue, creating a disagreeable sensation in
the attempt to swallow. The palate is then said
to be "down," when, in fact, it is not down, but
enlarged. Ulcers frequently form on the tonsils,
or almond like glands, inducing extreme suffering
for weeks, when it could be cured in a few days.
Treatment — Apply with a quill, or hair pencil, a
grain or two of bread soda (carbonate of soda),
and give one teaspo6nful of Epsom salts dissolved
in warm water daily; at the same time, keep the
neck moist during hours of sleep by the applica-
tion of cloths wrung out of hot water, until relief
is obtained. Epsom salts should be of the finest
quality, well dissolved, and sweetened with sugar,
whenever administered. The quantity should be
reduced or increased to suit the age and condition
of the patient.
DIPHTHERIA.
This disease is usually ushered in by complete
lassitude or loss of strength. The patient appears
to lose intelligence, has no disposition to fret or
laugh, the nervous powers seem to be blunted,
with complete loss of appetite.
The chances of recovery are more favorable
when the disease is rightly understood in the
140
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
onset. This can seldom be the case, especially
among the indigent, for in those instances the
true nature of the complaint is overlooked, till it
is too late to change the course of the malady.
Treatment — Medicines and external baths tend-
ing to reduce and brighten the blood, are of great
importance. Of the medicines, bromide of potas-
sium, given in from three to four grain doses, or two
drachms dissolved in four ounces of water, given
by tablespoonful doses three or four times a day
for an adult. If the body is kept wrapped in a wet
blanket, and changed every twenty-four hours, hav-
ing it warm when first applied, it will greatly assist
the recovery. Every means possible should be
employed to keep the throat open. As this dread-
ful disease appears to arise from cold, irritation,
and poisons in the blood, affecting the whole sys-
tem, it may be a question if whiskey and such
stimulants are beneficial in the first stage. Stim-
ulants may be employed throughout the disease
externally with great satisfaction, alternating with
water baths, for if they are going to revive the
powers at all, they will do so more readily and
permanently by absorption from without.
As yet the treatment of diphtheria appears to be
undecided by the medical faculty; an ailment
must be well understood to insure decided treat-
ment.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
141
SCROFULOUS OR GLANDULAR SWELLINGS
may develop by exposure to sudden atmospheri-
cal changes, but all glandular enlargements are
not a sign of scrofulous taint.
Nearly all of the ordinary swellings of the neck,
or of any of the glands, may be entirely removed
by the continued application of salt moistened
with the pulp of apple. Hot salt-water baths are
scattering, as is also an occasional anointing with
the ointment of helebore.
Should they fill out with pus, they should be care-
fully lanced and the matter encouraged to flow out
by applications of warm water or a poultice of flax-
seed meal; should it not run freely and appear
firm, add a little honey over the surface of the
poultice for a short time. When the wounds are
healthy they may be healed over by the applica-
tion of an ointment prepared by melting white
pine resin and tallow together. The system must
be kept open, and the blood well fed at the same
time, as poor living both propagates the disease
and retards its cure. Scrofula frequently ter-
minates in consumption.
TUMOR. FALSE GROWTHS
May develop in or on any part of the body, in
either sex; but in women, most likely to form in
142
MEDICAL DISCOURSES,
the uterine regions. Some of the principal causes
have been mentioned in Part I. I will here advise
the general management: — Avoid eating fish,
eggs, oysters, pork, vegetables of a gaseous nature,
or any stimulant drinks ; also avoid anything that
may depress or excite the mind. As much of the
distress which frequently accompanies tumor is
the result of wind and loaded bowels, it is best to
keep them free by small but repeated doses of
warm Epsom salts; frequent hot salt-water baths;
anointing the entire body with ointment of hele-
bore, or goose oil. The dress should be of com-
fortable material. Where there is much bloating,
a decoction of water, pepper herb and horse radish
root, maybe drank at will for months; likewise,
hop sweetened with brown sugar induces sleep.
In this way one may live on comfortably for years
with tumor.
BRAIN FEVER.
In all cases where it is known there is a tendency
of the blood to the head, the patient should be
placed in a cool, quiet room. The hair should be
shaved, or closely cut off ; cloths wrung out of
warm water may be kept continually over the
scalp and bick part of the neck. The feet and
ankles as well as the wrists should also be kept
moist during the height of the fever. Small doses
L
4 68 4
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
of Epsom salts, say one quarter of a teaspoonful,
dissolved in a little warm sweetened water, to a
child from one to five years old, will generally
relieve the blood-vessels, if given long enough to
produce large passages from the bowels. The same
remedy should be increased for adults. Also the
bromide of potassium, administered as in case of
diphtheria, is excellent.
It is usually some irregularity, over-work, or
undue excitement, some way or other, that induces
the alarming symptoms of brain fever.
But, at all events, it shows that there is an over-
charged condition of the blood vessels, which
should be promptly relieved. Efforts to this end
should be both general and special. I have here
inserted the general course, which is to reduce the
blood in density by keeping the system open.
Applications of ice, or ice-cold baths, over the
head, after the fever is at its height, does not
always prove beneficial to the general circulation.
Ice may cause the blood to congeal in the parts,
and thus prevent a chance for the removal of the
pressure, through the ascending and descending
blood-vessels. Cold water checks the flow of
blood, while, on the other hand, warm water assists
it to flow. It is just this assistance that is needed
to free the system from all poisonous irritants, and
when timely and rightly applied it cannot fail to
.relieve.
144
MEDICAL DISCOURSES.
FORMULA FOR MAKING DOCTRESS CRUMPLER's
VEGETABLE ALTERATIVE.
Take of fresh Indian posey and water pepper
herbs, each one ounce ; white pine bark, or tops,
one half ounce; horehound herb, one fourth.
Simmer in two quarts of water in a covered vessel
four or five hours. Have three pints when strained ;
then add two and one-half pounds of loaf sugar.
Boil briskly to a clear, thick syrup ; pour out,
and stir in while hot, one teaspoonful of pulverized
mandrake root. Strain again through a fine cloth,
and, when cold, bottle and keep in a cool, dark
place. If podophyllin, the concentrated mandrake
is used — which I prefer — only one half-teaspoon-
ful is required to a quart of syrup. Dose for an
adult, from one half to two thirds of a small
wineglassful once a day while resting. Dose for
small children, in case of bloating, worms, cough,
from half to a whole teaspoonful at bedtime for a
short while. Good to remove old colds from
continued exposures, morbid craving for tobacco,
alcoholic beverages or other blood poisoning idols,
for which the dose is one teaspoonful in a glass
of cold water at every inclination to drink, chew,
or smoke.
Perseverance will insure success. No remedy
should be continued after relief is obtained ; too
much physicking impoverishes the blood.
NOTE.
In the paragraph on Sore Throat, page 102, I alhided to the
clanger of giving hot drinks in scarlet fever: the same precau-
tions were intended for measles, or any of the skin diseases.
But owing to a circumstance which occurred with a young
mother since the publication, I am constrained to add some
special advice for the management of measles. This disease
usually appears in the latter part of winter or the first of
spring. Children of various ages are liable to take it. This
disease comes on with some degree of sick headache, hot, dry
skin, and not unfrequently with cough and sore throat. A
person may have it more than once, it may be carried around
in the clothes of visitors, or retained for some time in the
bedding, wall papers and carpets. It is very dangerous to
give hot drinks, to hasten the pimples to appear; they usually
do so about the fourth day after the fever begins, and if nothing
was given, unless the person was kept very cold indeed, they
would appear. It is this mistaken interference with Nature
that causes many fatal teiminations of measles. The severe
headache, heat, swollen face and eyes, denote that the treat-
ment should be rather cooling, in order to mitigate the suffer-
ing. As a general thing measles need not be considered to be
any more than a cold ; with a gentle purge, warm baths, and
drinks of warm water and lemonade, the patient will be all
right in about eight or ten days. But as the lungs are liable
to be more or less affected, a physician should be called in, that
tlieir true condition may be known in the commencement.
ERRATA.
On page 16, line 7, for mama, read mamma.
On page 50, line 21, for panacea read panada.
1
•JiDiaaw JO Aavaan ivnohvn
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3NIDI03W JO Aavij9
Grumpier, Rebecca, A book of medical discourses in two parts.
WS C9546b 1837
Condition when received: The volume is in poor condition.
It is acidic and brittle, a dark yellow color. It was rebound in
the past using a modem buckram cover. Several pages have
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book and the last few pages. The title page and the one-half
title page bear pressure-sensitive acrylic tape. There is a loss
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"ME" in the word "MEDICAL". An accretion covers the word
"youth" near the center of the title page.
Conservation Treatment: In preparation for exhibition, the
title page alone was treated. Pressure sensitive tape carriers
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was removed, as much as possible, using a methyl cellulose
poultice and a Teflon tool. The title page and several other
loose pages were reattached using kizukishi paper (Japanese
Paper Place) and the above adhesive.
Treatment carried out by Rachel-Ray Cleveland
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